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Scrimmage observations: Northeastern, Bermudian Springs


The defensive units for Northeastern and Bermudian Springs provided most of the excitement at Friday's scrimmage. Both teams stifled the other's offense for all but one drive.

The Bobcats found the end zone on the first drive of the scrimmage, while the Eagles found it in the last drive. In between, there were a lot of short gains and punts.

Here are three takeaways from the action:

New system, similar results

Northeastern led the entire YAIAA in total defense last season, and that still seems to be the strength of the team even with Brian Freed taking over as defensive coordinator and implementing a new system.

Northeastern held Bermudian Springs to short rushing gains all night, and even on its worst defensive sequence only allowed a couple plays for more than 10 yards.

“Speed (makes them tough)," Bermudian Springs coach Jon DeFoe said of Northeastern's defense. "They’re really quick and move laterally really well. There were a couple plays we thought we had something, but speed closed it up. It was a good lesson for our guys to be patient and keep working.”

Dull comfortable at QB

Chase Dull, a sophomore who started briefly at quarterback for Bermudian Springs as a freshman before a knee injury ended his season, looked healthy during Friday's scrimmage.

The Northeastern defense put him under duress several times, but when Dull had time to throw, he made several accurate throws for double-digit gains.

“He’s still playing through some of it a little bit, as far as the injury," DeFoe said. "But I’m pleased with where he is.”

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Watch: Chase Dull returns from knee injury
Bermudian Springs sophomore quarterback Chase Dull talks about how he's feeling heading into the season. His freshman year was cut short by a torn ACL.
Zach Miller - GameTimePA.com

Miscues concern Northeastern

The Bobcats committed 12 penalties last season, tied for third-best in the YAIAA, but they committed three in Friday's scrimmage. Two were committed by the second-team offense, but the Bobcats also had multiple players flagged for jumping offside on a fourth-down play in the red zone. That penalty resulted in an Eagles' first down, and it led to their only touchdown run.

First-string quarterback Shannon Valenti also threw one interception, with Bermudian's Ben Eggenreider picking off the pass.

“We’ve got to take care of the ball and we’ve got to limit our penalties," Northeastern coach Jon Scepanski said. "They’re fixable mistakes, we just have to fix them.”