Shannon Litz/Nevada Appeal
Carson football coach Blair Roman said he was pleased with the Senators' performance in Saturday's scrimmage against Lassen and Truckee.
"I thought we played pretty well on defense," said Roman. "We had three takeaways and our coverage was really good against two teams that really throw it well.
"On offense we showed we had speed to attack people. Dylan (Sawyers) didn't have a lot of touches. I wanted to see different people handle the ball. I already know what he can do."
Carson is trying to replace some key components on last season's top-ranked defense, especially the front line which was anchored by Ryan Hoskins and Justin Barlow. They also are trying to replace cornerback Josh Peacock and inside linebacker Luke Carter.
Colby Blueberg, Sawyers and Chance Quilling had interceptions, while Caleb Jeffers batted a pass down at the line. Blueberg also deflected a pass and had good coverage on another play.
Offensively, Roman used both senior Trey Jensen and junior Chance Quilling under center. Unofficially, Jensen was 3-for-5 passing for 29 yards. When teams were working on their red zone offense, Jensen had a nice scoring pass. Quilling was responsible for two scores, both against second-team defenses. One was an impressive 50-yard option run. He should have had a second TD pass go for a score, but the receiver stopped running his pattern.
"Chance did a nice job," Roman said. "I was pleased with him. I also though Trey did a very good job."
Jacob McClelland had a nice 16-yard run late in the day and Blueberg took a late pitch from Quilling and turned it into a 28-yard run.
Roman played the scrimmage with just one starter from last year, Matt Cooper, on the front line. Tight end Tyler Collins and center Danny Gall are out with injuries.
"Compared to what we did last year in the first scrimmage, we were better last year," Roman said. "Last year we had four linemen back that had played every down."