Andrews sees positives in play of Dayton QBs in annual spring game
Apr. 2—Trevor Andrews couldn't have picked a better April day for his first spring game as head coach of the Dayton Flyers football team. Clear skies and comfortable temperatures greeted him at the Jerry Von Mohr Practice Facility across the street from UD Arena as he took the next step toward his first season at UD since he was a player in the 1990s.
"It was great to get out here finally," Andrews said, "and the weather cooperated with us a little bit. It's been been pretty windy, and we've had a ton of rain. It was great to get out and throw the ball around a little bit more than we have been able to this spring. Guys ran around and did a nice job. There were some good things on both sides of the ball and then some things we'll identify off the film that we've got to work on and get better at."
Dante Casciola was the first quarterback to get the ball, and Cole Dow followed. Both quarterbacks saw action in the first half. Casciola started the first five games last season before suffering a season-ending broken thumb. Dow saw limited action in four games.
"Those guys have been going neck and neck all spring," Andrews said. "We wanted to see what those guys could do. That's why we decided to take the green shirts off and see what they did. I had a little bit of a quick whistle on some of those things just to keep them healthy, but I wanted to see them compete, and they both came out and they competed. They both took different groups on scoring drives. So that's what you want to see out of those guys. I didn't see a ton of turnovers, and that's always positive."
Dayton also announced its four captains for the 2023 season: senior offensive lineman David Tkatch; senior linebacker Nathan Arthur; senior safety Matt Lenti; and senior wide receiver Derek Willits, an Alter graduate who was a special teams captain last season. Players voted on the captains.
"I'm really appreciative," Willits said. "Getting the opportunity to lead guys like these, there's nothing like it. I've got to thank my teammates on that one. I didn't have anything to do with it but working hard and put myself in a position where I feel like I can be a leader on this team."
Dayton's spring practice will continue with at least one more practice on Tuesday. It also has another practice it can hold because of one cancelled by lightning earlier in the spring.
"This was No. 13 today," Andrews said, "so I feel comfortable with where we're at. We'll look at the film and see what we want to do there, but we've got Easter break coming up so we'll shut it down by the time those guys leave for Easter for sure."
Schedule news: Dayton also announced its 2023 schedule on Sunday. Here's a look at the full schedule:
Sept. 2, at Illinois State, time TBA
Sept. 9, vs. Central State, 1 p.m.
Sept. 16, vs. Taylor 1 p.m.
Sept. 23, at San Diego, time TBA
Sept. 30, vs. St. Thomas- 1 p.m.
Oct. 7, at Morehead State- 1 p.m.
Oct. 14, vs. Presbyterian- 1 p.m.
Oct. 21, vs. Butler- 1 p.m.
Nov. 4, at Valparaiso- 2 p.m.
Nov. 11, vs. Marist- 1 p.m.
Nov. 19, at Davidson-, time TBA
—Pioneer Football League game
