Big Plays, Big Mistakes in Scrimmage

The Bruins were unanimous in their praise of Cal Lutheran as a training camp site, but arriving home was sweet, especially with about 2,000 fans, the band and cheerleaders at Spaulding Field on Saturday afternoon to watch an intrasquad scrimmage.

The defense dominated the two-hour scrimmage until the offense scored several times in a row during a red zone drill on flashy plays by running backs Jason Harrison and Manuel White, tight end Mike Seidman and receiver Junior Taylor.

Early on, several defenders made big plays, including safety Matt Ware (53-yard fumble return for a touchdown), cornerback Ricky Manning (interception), tackle Ryan Boschetti (51-yard interception return for a touchdown) and end Kevin Harbour (two sacks).

“I expected the defense to have the upper hand this early in camp,” Coach Bob Toledo said. “But we made a lot of mistakes, a lot of things people can’t see like missing assignments and not knowing plays.”

And some things anyone could see, such as at least a half dozen fumbles. Starting tailback Akil Harris fumbled twice, as did freshman Tyler Ebell, who dropped a kickoff and a punt.

Ebell also made the most electrifying play, a 53-yard touchdown run, and led all rushers with 82 yards in seven carries.

“He’s really exciting,” Toledo said. “Either he’s going to make a big play or he’s going to fumble and they are going to make a big play.”

Senior quarterback Cory Paus completed three of five passes for 50 yards, hitting Ryan Smith on a 27-yard pass. Paus also connected with Seidman several times in the red zone drill, which was not reflected in the statistics.

Drew Olson, the most impressive of three freshmen quarterbacks most of the week, took a step back, completing only two of seven for 15 yards and giving Boschetti a gift interception when the ball squirted out of his hand. Matt Moore completed six of 12 for 65 yards. Redshirt freshman John Sciarra was three for five for 36 yards.

Freshman Marcedes Lewis lined up at receiver and tight end and was a frequent target on short passes, making five receptions for 41 yards.

There were no serious injuries during the scrimmage. Reserve linebacker Patrick Pierre-Louis hurt a shoulder and fullback Pat Norton sprained an ankle.

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During the morning practice, receiver Craig Bragg hobbled around with ice strapped to his sore left knee and pulled right hamstring.

Maybe it was the Westwood turf, but upon returning to campus Bragg shook off the injuries and participated in a handful of plays during the scrimmage.

“My goal is to be 100% by the time we scrimmage at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday,” Bragg said.

Bragg, a sophomore, led the Bruins with 29 receptions last season, rushed for two touchdowns on reverses and also returned punts and kicks. He is considered perhaps the team’s greatest big-play threat.

“We just want to make sure he doesn’t aggravate those minor nicks and bumps,” Toledo said.

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Instead of gathering as usual when the horn sounded ending the morning practice--the team’s last at Cal Lutheran--all 104 players walked to the 300 or so spectators lining the sideline and spent five minutes shaking their hands and thanking them for their support.

One of the highlights of what turned out to be an enjoyable, distraction-free training camp at the Thousand Oaks campus was the daily turnout of fans.

“It was like being in an NFL camp,” Seidman said. “It was a great crowd every day.”