Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes YSU’s Dra Rushton (Liberty) stiff arms Devin Johnson during the Penguins’ first scrimmage Saturday afternoon.

YOUNGSTOWN — Defense won the day, 27-21, at Youngstown State’s first team scrimmage Saturday, though the score was mostly secondary to the purpose.

“For us, it’s about building depth,” YSU head coach Doug Phillips noted. “To come out and do a live scrimmage from start to finish and be able to get the (second- and third-string players into live action), and now we can go back in the film room and see the film, evaluate them and see who can help us when we get into the season.”

The first string offense sputtered to begin the day, posting back-to-back three-and-out series. That included a pair of Demeatric Crenshaw incomplete passes on drive one and a sack of Crenshaw and another incompletion on drive two. He did find Bryce Oliver for a 9-yard gain in that span.

However, on the first stringers’ third series, the offense hit a groove, particularly in the ground game. Dra Rushton, a Liberty graduate, received first-team reps in place of Jaleel McLaughlin, who was held out of the scrimmage to prevent any injuries. Rushton ran for 64 yards and a touchdown as part of an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by his 1-yard plunge into the end zone.

“The offensive line told me, ‘Come on. We’re ready to go; let’s work.’ The pigs out there, they moved everyone, and I just have to find a hole and hit it. So I credit the O-line,” Rushton said.

Crenshaw also completed an 11-yard pass to Bryce Oliver during the series.

“We know what Dra did in the spring, and we had a rep count on Dre,” Phillips said. “That first two series of the scrimmage, he showed what he can do with the football in his hands, and once we saw that, we said, ‘OK, now let’s go find the No. 3 back.'”

To that end, Phillips highlighted the play of Ursuline alum Dante Walker and Austintown Fitch graduate Randy Smith Jr.

Walker had a rushing touchdown, while Smith picked up nice gains at times and also factored well into YSU’s passing game, particularly in the flats.

Receiver Max Tomczak also had a strong day with the second-team offense, catching passes of 60 and 20 yards from Mitch Davidson on one drive, capped by the second reception for a touchdown in the corner.

Chase Glover-Rogers had a pair of receptions, one for seven yards and one for 14, the latter from Crenshaw.

“We know we have to build depth. We know C.J. Charleston, Bryce Oliver and Latrell Fordham; they’ve shown in spring and through camp thus far. So to see Max Tomczak on one series catch four balls, one being a touchdown, to see Chase Glover making plays, that’s really where we needed to build depth on the offensive side of the ball,” Phillips said.

Tomczak nearly had another touchdown, as he was wide open up the seam. But a Crenshaw pass just missed the mark.

Defensively, Phillips noted the rep count was a bit higher, as the unit features a lot of new faces.

“The Marcus Hookers, the Caleb Burrs at safety, the Greg Bentons, Keon Freemans, they got a lot of reps today because it’s a new defense for them. So they’re learning as we go. For them to have the opportunity to play that many plays today will make them better.”

So far, Phillips said he likes what he sees in terms of progress.

“I thought we made a huge jump from Week 1 to Week 2, which you do,” he noted. “I thought we were a completely different team this week practicing. Now we come in for Sunday practice, and we have to get refocused. We have to make another huge jump going into Week 3 of camp.”