Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University football team capped its 2009 spring practice Thursday afternoon at Joe Walton Stadium with a controlled scrimmage, with sophomore fullback Jeff Link (Cumberland, Md. / Allegany) producing a pair of touchdown runs for the only scores of the afternoon. 

A total of 14 offensive series made up the scrimmage, with both scores coming late. Sophomore quarterback Aaron Smetanka (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Catholic) directed the first scoring drive of the afternoon, while junior quarterback Desmond Brentley (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Perry) led the offense to a score on the final series of the scrimmage. 

RMU started its first scoring drive at its own 45-yard line, and on the first play Smetanka hooked up with sophomore running back Myles Russ (Boca Raton, Fla. / West Boca) for a 24-yard completion to the 31-yard line. On the next play Russ produced a 14-yard run down to the 17-yard line, and four plays later Link scored from four yards out for the touchdown.

Russ carried the ball seven times for 31 yards on the scrimmage and produced the longest run of the day with his 14-yard scamper. Junior Raphael Johnson (Clinton, Md. / Charles L. Flowers) also saw plenty of time out of the backfield, rushing six times for 21 yards.  

The scrimmage, as the entire spring practice, seemed to belong to the defense, however, as sophomore linebacker Alex DiMichele (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Sto-Rox) was in on four tackles, while fellow sophomore linebacker Nick England (Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington Central), who started in place of DiMichele in RMU's 2008 season finale due to injury, paced the defense with six stops.

"Our improvement on defense, especially in today's scrimmage, was a pleasant surprise," head coach Joe Walton said. "We really seem to be coming together on that side of the ball, especially in regard to pursuit, getting into the right lanes or getting off the ball. I think our secondary is going to be better. They made a lot of progress, and that's a big plus."

Junior quarterback Camdin Crouse (Snow Shoe, Pa. / Bald Eagle) directed the offense during six drives and had a solid afternoon passing the ball, completing nine of his 10 passes for 69 yards.

Smetanka finished 5-for-8 passing for 57 yards and showed off solid arm strength with a 46-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Sherrod Evers (Philadelphia, Pa. / Mastbaum Area) after the play was called dead due to quarterback pressure.

Brentley finished 4-for-9 passing for 48 yards and completed the longest pass of the scrimmage with a 30-yard strike to Evers on the final drive of the afternoon that eventually led to Link's second touchdown scamper.

"We threw the ball pretty well most of camp, and not bad today," Walton said. "I think we have some receivers that can make things happen, and that's important. Nobody really stood out in the quarterback position, but each of them are doing better. Hopefully when we get to training camp one of them will step up. I thought Aaron threw very well today, and he's getting a better grasp of the offense. Camdin has been here for three years and really has our offense down, which is a key for us. Overall it was a good camp. We were able to get a lot accomplished and we look forward to next fall."

Robert Morris will open its 16th season of intercollegiate football and its 2009 campaign Saturday, Sept. 5, with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff at VMI in Lexington, Va. It marks the start of back-to-back road games to open the season for the Colonials, as RMU will also visit Bucknell Saturday, Sept. 12, for a 6:00 p.m. start.