Truitt Manuel's 4 TD catches lead West Henderson football to fourth round for first time
It didn't matter if West Henderson wide receiver and NC State baseball commit Truitt Manuel was single- or double-covered. He still found ways to get open.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior caught 16 passes for 248 yards and four touchdowns on receptions of 55, 36, 13 and 34 yards. It was a monster performance for No. 3 West Henderson (13-0), which beat No. 6 Oak Grove 45-24 at home Friday.
"We got to move him around different spots," coach Paul Whitaker said. "We didn't put him in at running back tonight. But trying to move him around and make those defensive guys guess where he's gonna be and just try to get him in some one-on-one matchups."
It is the first time in program history that the Falcons will advance to the fourth round of the NCHSAA 3A playoffs; they will travel to face No. 2 Hickory (13-0) on Friday.
Oak Grove (11-2) forced West Henderson to throw the ball early. It made life difficult for Falcons star running back Carson Dimsdale, who has run for 2,069 yards and 32 touchdowns on 288 carries this season.
The 5-9, 165-pound tailback suffered an ankle injury early in the second quarter and did not return. Whitaker said he held him out the rest of the game as a precaution.
Quarterback Cade Young had a strong game after throwing three interceptions last week against East Lincoln. He completed 28 of 38 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns.
Young said the rest of the offense wanted to step up after Dimsdale's injury.
"He played a great game, made great reads all night," Manuel said. "Out of a sophomore, you don't really think that he can make those reads, but he can."
Manuel said one area Young has improved is his ability to have a short-term memory after a bad play.
Whitaker said he was impressed with how his young quarterback responded to the pressure.
"We put it on the shoulders of a sophomore quarterback tonight," Whitaker said. "Made some throws. He grew up a lot tonight."
NC HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCORES: NCHSAA playoffs third round in North Carolina 2023
Manuel and West Henderson are thrilled to make history but also want to keep breaking records.
"The hard work has paid off, but the job isn't finished," Manuel said.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: West Henderson football advances to 4th round with win over Oak Grove
