Quarterback Jeff Garcia threw three touchdown passes on Friday
night, but none were more important than a 12-yard strike to Robert
Ferguson on fourth down with six seconds remaining in the game to
lift the Omaha Nighthawks past the Harford Colonials 27-26 at a
soldout Rosenblatt Stadium.
OMAHA, NEB.
Quarterback Jeff Garcia threw three touchdown passes on Friday night, but none were more important than a 12-yard strike to Robert Ferguson on fourth down with six seconds remaining in the game to lift the Omaha Nighthawks past the Hartford Colonials 27-26 at a soldout Rosenblatt Stadium.
“I didn’t make the greatest of throws,” Garcia said. “It was one of those throws where I wanted to just give him a chance to make a play. And fortunately it snuck by that corner and he made the play. What a way to finish.”
A United Football League record crowd of 23,067 witnessed its hometown team pull off the comeback triumph in the Nighthawks’ inaugural contest as a franchise.
“We felt like we were running so many inside-breaking routes throughout the night. Down at that last drive we started to run some out-breaking routes,” Garcia said of the Nighthawks’ strategy on the final drive. “I had Robert Ferguson run a post corner to my right side, and I threw left. And I could see his reaction that he thought he had it. So when we came back on that last play, obviously fourth down, not a whole lot of time left, no timeouts left, basically had to go to the end zone, and I told him run another post corner for me, but this time to the left, and he did a great job of selling the post and breaking back out the corner.”
Omaha trailed by as many as 13 in the second half, but two Garcia fourth-quarter touchdowns and a Jeff Wolfert field goal dissolved the deficit.
Wolfert cut the lead to 10 with a field goal early in the fourth. Garcia and Devard Darling punctuated a nine-play, 54-yard drive with a 2-yard score midway through the final period to skim the Colonials’ lead to 23-20.
After a Colonials’ field goal widened the gap to 26-20 with a little more than two minutes left in the game, Garcia and the Nighthawks embarked on the game-winning, nine-play, 59-yard drive.
“You talk about coming out, and obviously having not played an entire year, really wondering how things are going to go,” Garcia said.
“I had a busy week. Had a baby born on Tuesday. I’m flying from coast to Midwest from coast to Midwest. Just really was a busy week, but a very grateful, thankful week. I’m very blessed with my family at home. I’ll have a chance to get home tomorrow and see them, spend some time with them. What a way to cap off the week, just a great way to finish the night.”
