Will a Conway High graduate play quarterback against Coastal Carolina on Saturday?

Could Conway High graduate Peyton Derrick, a redshirt freshman, be quarterbacking Appalachian State on Saturday at Brooks Stadium?

Sophomore starting quarterback Zac Thomas hit his head on the turf on a tackle in the first quarter of ASU’s loss Thursday at Georgia Southern and did not return to the game, and he has been in concussion protocol since.

According to Ethan Joyce with the Winston-Salem Journal, Thomas did not participate in practice Wednesday but watched it on the field. Mountaineers head coach Scott Satterfield said Thomas is considered day to day, and he doesn’t expect a decision on his availability to be made until late in the week.

Thomas led the Mountaineers to a near upset of Penn State in their season opener followed by five straight wins, and has completed 81 of 133 passes for 1,145 yards with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. He ranks in the top 30 of FBS quarterbacks in numerous categories.

CCU coach Joe Moglia is planning on Thomas playing.

“We’re all assuming he’s there because they played Thursday night so they had an extra three days or so to get ready,” Moglia said. “We’re positive he’s going to be their guy and that’s who we’re going to get ready for.”

In Thomas’ absence Thursday, Derrick and sophomore Jacob Huesman of Bradenton, Fla., threw two interceptions each.

Satterfield appears to be leaning toward Huesman to start in Conway if Thomas isn’t available.

Derrick led the Mountaineers to a score against Georgia Southern while the game was still competitive, throwing a 50-yard pass to Corey Sutton that put the Mountaineers near the goal line. But he was just 3 of 12 for 73 yards with the two interceptions.

“Peyton didn’t play very well,” Satterfield said. “I think we all know that. You look at the stats, the way they came across, so a disappointing performance, and I’m sure he’ll say the same thing about the way he played. The bottom line is he turned the ball over too many times.”

As a senior at Conway High in 2016, Derrick was named the Region 6-5A Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 2,865 yards and 29 TDs.

Huesman, who replaced Derrick near the end of the third quarter, completed 8 of 14 passes for 67 yards and threw a touchdown to Malik Williams in App. State’s final drive. One of his interceptions came in a third-and-long situation and the other Satterfield didn’t attribute to a poor throw.

“I think Jacob came in and played pretty well,” Satterfield said. “He threw the ball pretty good, had pretty good command of the offense and had poise out there. That’s the biggest thing I think overall as a football team we just lacked poise throughout that whole game, and that was the biggest difference in the game.”

This story was originally published October 31, 2018 at 8:20 PM.