Nighthawk QBs shine in team's latest scrimmage

• Photo Showcase: Nighthawks scrimmage, Sept. 6

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The bright lights of TD Ameritrade Park brought out the best in the Omaha Nighthawks offense Tuesday night.

Showing greater efficiency than perhaps at any time since training camp opened, the offense took a big step forward in a public scrimmage that drew about 1,000 people to the downtown stadium.

"We executed better tonight than we have been in practice," Nighthawks quarterback Eric Crouch said. "We knew we had to do that. We needed to get in our groove.''

The offense had sputtered a week ago in the first scrimmage of training camp, failing to score a touchdown in 16 possessions.

Tuesday, Jeremiah Masoli threw touchdown passes of 39 and 54 yards and directed a drive that ended in a field goal. Two other long marches penetrated the defense's 5-yard line only to be stymied by a bad center snap that resulted in a 24-yard loss and a fumble.

Crouch also threw two touchdown passes, and Troy Smith, who just signed with the club five days ago, got the offense into the end zone on the one possession he got at the end of the scrimmage.

"I think they made really good progress," said Omaha coach Joe Moglia, referring to the three quarterbacks. "Eric was much improved. I thought Jeremiah looked good, and Troy was sharp in the series when he was in there.

"I felt good about the three of them.''

So did offensive coordinator Bart Andrus, the mastermind behind the no-huddle, up-tempo attack .

"We've taken a positive step forward every day,'' Andrus said. "This is about where we expected to be. Tonight, there were some things that went very well and some things that could have gone better.

"We're ironing out the wrinkles right now."

Masoli's improvement from the first scrimmage to the second was particularly impressive. A week ago, the rookie from Mississippi completed 4 of 13 passes for 30 yards with an interception.

Tuesday, he threw for 317 yards while completing 20 passes to 10 receivers. He threw a 39-yard scoring pass to Aubrey Quarles on his first possession, then hooked up with Greg Orton on a 54-yard touchdown on his third.

Of Masoli's 11 incompletions, six came on his final two possessions.

"Things went great for the offense as opposed to last scrimmage," said Masoli, who threw one interception on a tipped pass. "We were kind of slow and not where we needed to be in that one. Tonight, I thought we did a lot of good things.''

Crouch completed 12 of 23 passes for 124 yards with two interceptions, one on a batted ball that defensive tackle Justin Mincey pulled out of the air. Crouch also had the long run of the scrimmage, a 28-yarder.

"I think we're pleased with the progress," Crouch said, "but we know we have a lot of work to do."

Moglia said the same, citing the overall improvement the team needs to make before opening its United Football League season Sept. 15 at home against Virginia.

"We still have a long way to go to be able to play a football game," Moglia said. "That's across the board — offense, defense, special teams. We need to make a lot of improvement."

On the positive side, Moglia said the he liked the effort the players showed Tuesday as well as the progress the team appears to be making.

"We've only been in camp 12 days," he said. "We have a new staff, a new team, a new system. The execution is improving and the guys are playing hard."

The scrimmage also served as the final chance for some of the players to make an impression. The Nighthawks have to get down to the UFL roster limit of 51 by Friday.

After that, the focus turns to game preparation. Masoli can't wait.

"We're so tired of going against each other and lining up against a defense that knows all of our plays and a lot of our calls,'' he said. "I'm anxious to get out and get our best 11 up against their best 11.''

Scrimmage statistics:

Passing (Comp-Att.-TD-Int-Yds): Jeremiah Masoli 20-31-2-1-317; Eric Crouch 12-23-2-1-124; Troy Smith 5-9-0-0-84.

Rushing (Att-Yds-TD-Avg): Shaud Williams 6-55-0-9.2; Crouch 6-29-0-4.8; John Griffin 4-15-1-3.8; Marlon Lucky 4-13-0-3.2; Masoli 4-11-0-2.8; Smith 1-2-0-2.0; Noel Devine 9-9-0-1.0; Glen Fox 1-minus 1-0-minus 1.0; Team 1-minus 24.

Receiving (No.-Yds-TD-Avg): Aubrey Quarles 7-101-1-14.4; Chris Davis 5-35-0-7.0; Greg Orton 4-109-2-27.3; Adrian Hilburn 4-23-0-5.8; Alric Arnett 3-30-0-10.0; Andrew Brewer 2-40-20.0; Lee Vickers 2-37-0-18.5; Fred Rouse 2-29-1-14.5; Chad Jackson 2-28-2-14.0; Chad Lucas 2-33-0-16.5; Fox 1-26-0-26.0; Lucky 1-2-0-2.0; Devine 1-1-0-1.0.

» NOTES: Former Nebraska linebacker Steve Octavien was among the players who have joined the Nighthawks. Other players announced on Tuesday as members of the team are offensive linemen Donovan Raiola and Dan Gay, both Nighthawks last season; running back John Griffin, receivers Greg Orton and Chad Jackson; and return specialist Phillip Livas.

Contact the writer:

402-679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

twitter.com/PivOWH

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