B-Law and Craig Nall stand tall

Two Demon righties threw well in the pros Friday night.

Three hours away from home in Alexandria, quarterback Craig Nall made the most of his brief opportunity for the Buffalo Bills in the Superdome against the New Orleans Saints in an NFL exhibition game.

On one of baseball's biggest stages, right-handed pitcher Brian Lawrence had another
"quality" starting outing for the New York Mets in Shea Stadium.

Lawrence didn't get his second win in his second big league start of 2007 Friday night. He did raise his stock with the Mets and the New York media, however, battling through a rocky first two innings in which Florida scored two runs off six hits and allowing only two more hits and no runs in the next four innings.

Lawrence was in position to be the winning pitcher, leaving up 3-2 when he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth. Ace reliever Billy Wagner had a hiccup, giving up his first runs since June 15 as the Marlins cracked three hits and scored twice to rally for a 4-3 triumph at Shea Stadium.

Said Mets manager Willie Randolph to the Big Apple media afterward:

"Brian did a good job. He didn't bend much. He got into a little trouble early but he kept the damage to a minimum. He's given us two quality starts, if you will. He kept us in the game even though we didn't score behind him and he could easily have gotten his second win in his second start. He knows how to pitch and he's shown that when he hits his spots. He changes speeds nicely and keeps the hitters off stride. He did a nice job again tonight in his second start."

Nall hit his first five passes and finished 5-of-7 for 54 yards, steering the Bills to 62 of their 104 first-half yards in a late 14-play drive that produced a field goal to forge a 3-all halftime knot. Craig, sporting a crew cut, warmed up before the start of the second half but didn't play as the Bills gave rookie Trent Edwards from Stanford the entire second half. He went 10-of-11 for 49 yards.

Nall's former NSU teammate Terrence McGee didn't appear to play much despite starting at cornerback, but had a 34-yard kickoff return and one assisted tackle. He is one of the NFL's top kickoff return specialists and will also be the Bills' top cover corner.

Although NSU alumnus Brian Duval, working with the CBS Television crew in the press box, called before kickoff to say rookie Derrick Doyle from Northwestern might get a few snaps late in the game for the Saints at receiver, that didn't materialize. Doyle arrived in camp Wednesday as a late free agent addition and if he doesn't overcome the odds to make the team, he could enhance his status for other professional opportunities, particularly in Canada.

The Bills "won" 13-10. New Orleans is 0-2 in preseason. Fear not, Saints fans. The home team outgained Buffalo 258-104 in the first half with the better players in the game.

Doug Ireland, SID