Still no answers regarding Dragons’ QB situation

Carroll football followers want to know. What does the race for the starting quarterback look like? Well, head coach Hal Wasson isn’t going to shed any secrets on who might have the lead.

But the good news is that senior Montana Murphy appears to be fully recovered from the back injury he suffered in May.

“He’s 100 percent healthy, and I thought he was sharp [in Saturday’s intra-squad scrimmage],” Wasson said. “There are some things to work on. But the things that stood out to me were his composure and pocket presence. There were some really good throws.”

For junior Mason Holmes, he had a lot of work with the receivers during the spring and summer. But consider last week to be his break-in week working with his team with something on the line.

“It was a good, solid day for Mason with first varsity experience,” Wasson said. “I’m very optimistic about what he can do. We’re not trying to rush [the starting quarterback decision]. I think it will be something that will work itself out. We’ll learn more this week and next week.

“I think we have two good quarterbacks who can lead our team. It’s going to come down who can lead the offense down the field and put points on the board.”

Setting the defense

The defensive line appears to have its three starters around nose tackle Ryan Miller. Jackson Tanner and Luke Jeter will be on either side.

As for linebacker, Wasson said the coaching staff wants to settle on the second inside linebacker spot to compliment converted running back senior Grant McFarland (McFarland could still see time in the offensive backfield). The outside linebackers appear to be set with senior IV Seacat and junior John Micsoll.

The secondary is strong between juniors Robert Barnes and Barrett Buck at safety and senior Obi Eboh at cornerback. The search continues for a second starting corner.

“Defensively, our front is pretty aggressive,” Wasson said. “We have to make sure we minimize the big plays. The guys are doing a good job running to the football.”

Scrimmage vs. Duncanville

Carroll continues its scrimmage tradition of taking on Duncanville. The teams meet at 10 a.m. Friday at Dragon Stadium.

The Panthers are now under the direction of former Dallas Skyline coach Reginald Samples. He replaced Jeff Dicus, who resigned following the 2014 season.

The Panthers feature one of the nation’s top defensive tackles in Marcel Southall. The Duncanville secondary features two very talented stoppers in safety Jaron Bryant and defensive back Bailey Phillips. That should be a pretty good test for the Carroll receiving corps led Zach Farrar.

Wasson said he expects the first team offenses and defense to face each other. The scrimmage should also include two 10-minute quarters.

“We had a really good first week,” Wasson said. “The players were in great condition. There was a lot of retention. And they worked with a great sense of urgency. In the intra-squad scrimmage, our receivers caught the ball pretty well. I want to see a little better run blocking but that’s expected when you’re only a couple of days in pads. But it’s a good start.”

This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Still no answers regarding Dragons’ QB situation."