GREENVILLE — East Carolina is entering its first season under the leadership of first-year coach Scottie Montgomery and his overhauled coaching staff. Saturday’s first intra-squad scrimmage of the preseason proved the explosive offense Pirate fans have come to love shouldn’t me much different come the team’s season opener on Sept. 3.

The Pirates tagged their defense for six touchdowns. All came through the air with starter Philip Nelson throwing for a pair, Gardner Minshew notching one and Reid Herring striking thrice on just eight pass attempts.

“We’ve got some good quarterbacks. We’ve got some guys that can play the position,” Montgomery said after the scrimmage. “Watching from afar, I haven’t seen the tape, the quarterbacks operated the offense. They threw the ball as well as they’ve done since I’ve been here.”

Nelson connected with Jimmy Williams on a 26-yard toss for the scrimmage’s first score. It was the only catch of the afternoon for the one-time Washington quarterback.

“(Williams) is going to be the dark horse this year,” Nelson said. “Everyone knows about (Trevon Brown) and Zay (Jones). I think Jimmy is a guy that is very reliable. He’s going to run a route and he’s got that deep ball speed, as well. He’s really a great receiver and he’s going to continue to only get better.”

Offensive coordinator Tony Petersen added, “He’s a guy I don’t think a lot of people talk about. His speed, size, his physicality and the way he plays — he’s going to be one of those guys people fall asleep on because of (Jones) and (Brown). All of a sudden, they’ve got him behind their whole secondary.”

ECU showed off its playmaking prowess. Williams’ 26-yard haul was the shortest touchdown pass of the scrimmage. Nelson’s second scoring drive was capped off when he found Quay Johnson crossing over the middle for a 65-yard score.

Herring threw touchdowns of 45, 50 and 40 yards to Johnnie Glaspie, Curtis Burston and Brandon Bishop, respectively. Minshew wrapped up the offense’s scoring with a 37-yard pass to Cam Marshmon.

“We just have to eliminate all turnovers. We can’t be putting the ball in danger,” Nelson said. “I think we’re hitting our big plays when we get them, the majority of them, which is huge for this offense. … Just keeping the ball out of danger is going to be a major key for the season for us.”

Bobby Fulp provided the defense’s highlight. He intercepted Nelson on the second series of the scrimmage and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.

Freshman defensive back Javontay Smith led the afternoon with eight tackles. Sophomore linebacker Joe Carter tallied seven tackles, including two for a total loss of eight yards. Sophomore lineman Shaun James had five tackles. He demonstrated the front seven’s focus on getting to the quarterback as he got in the backfield for two sacks that cost the offense 12 yards.

The front seven was a depleted bunch heading into the scrimmage. Linemen Darius Commissiong and Demetri McGill, as well as linebackers Yiannis Bowden, Joe Allely and Dayon Pratt were all sidelined.

“I think, defensively, we got to a spot where we can operate pretty efficiently. Our front seven has some talent and now we’re starting to see that there are a couple of guys we didn’t know that could come out and potentially play for us,” Montgomery said.