Central Connecticut football took on Central Connecticut football in the annual Blue-White game. The 60-play scrimmage saw the defense come away with a 43-35 victory following multiple sacks and a game-ending interception.

Both the offense and defense were missing key players due to various injuries. One notable player missing was Georgia State graduate transfer Aaron Winchester, who won’t arrive until the fall. In his absence, the trio of Romelo Williams, Edison Galan and Kyle Zajack quarterbacked the offense. All four quarterbacks are looking to replace Jacob Dolegala, the school’s all-time leader in passing yards.

Head coach Ryan McCarthy, who took part in his first Blue-White game as the Blue Devils’ leader, stated that he is still looking for a quarterback to earn the starting role.

“We’re trying to find a guy who is going to step up and take over that role and I don’t think we found that at this point,” McCarthy said. “Nothing is set in stone, everyone will have an opportunity to compete and see how it goes. We have 24 practices in preseason camp to try and get it in the direction we need to.”

McCarthy said that replacing Dolegala is no easy task and that the team’s young QBs need to keep progressing throughout the summer. As for the offense’s performance during the scrimmage, McCarthy thought the unit as a whole underwhelmed.

“I think on offense, we looked really flat,” McCarthy said. “I was disappointed with the way we played up front, a lot of the guys have been here and played a lot of football, we had a major issue with snaps, it’s hard to execute plays when snaps are all over the place.”

Despite the offense underperforming in McCarthy’s eyes, senior defensive back Tajik Bagley said that sophomore wide receiver Tyshaun James has been a player who has impressed him throughout the spring.

“We go at it every day. I get him better and he gets me better every day,” Bagley said of James. “He’s the best it gets as far as body size and height, I’m getting a good matchup every day so when the real games start, it’ll come easy.”

James himself said that while they’re still growing, he expects the offense to shine come the regular season.

“Offensively we are still learning, we’re getting there,” James said. “But we have a great coaching staff, veteran players on the offensive line and great receivers, once we all mesh and start cooking, it’s going to be a force.”

As the offense struggled to find their footing, the defense excelled. The unit allowed just one touchdown before the offense began Red Zone drills. Furthermore, they were quick into the offense’s backfield and forced a fumble before their final interception.

McCarthy was impressed with their performance, stating that the defense was clearly ahead of the offense and that they controlled the scrimmage. He went on to highlight the team’s secondary, which included game’s Most Valuable Player Dexter Lawson.

“We’ve got a veteran secondary,” McCarthy said. “We have two really good corners in Dexter Lawson and [Tajik] Bagley, we have an All-Conference safety in D.J. Exilhomme and some good young safeties who I think will find their way onto the field. I feel pretty good about where we are defensively.”

Bagley, who was voted preseason All-Northeast Conference in 2018, stated that the team’s focus during the scrimmage was sticking to the fundamentals.

“We just wanted to do the simple things,” Bagley said. “Running to the ball, getting 11 hats to the ballcarrier, just try and execute the little things so when the real Saturdays come we’re ready.”

With the scrimmage behind them, the Blue Devils will now start getting ready for their Summer training sessions and getting prepared for the start of the 2019 season on Aug. 31. Despite losing Dolegala, Bagley thinks the team’s youth will pay dividends come the regular season.

“I feel like our freshman and sophomores play like juniors and seniors,” Bagley said. “They communicate, they’re in their playbooks and watching film, they come to practice every day, you wouldn’t think they were freshmen. I’m pretty happy with them and I’m pretty happy with the people that stepped in to fill last year’s shoes.”