Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Pirates survive another scare
 |
By STEVE FRANKLIN, Sports Writer
GREENVILLE — For the second consecutive week, Ben Hartman was the overtime hero.
After missing a 43-yard field goal on the last play of regulation, Hartman redeemed himself by splitting the uprights from 27 yards out in the extra session, to help East Carolina survive a scare from Marshall and jump into the driver’s seat in the race for Conference USA’s East Division crown, with a 19-16 win over the Thundering Herd at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Saturday afternoon. .
“He hooked the first one at the end of regulation,” ECU coach Skip Holtz said. “In overtime, I told him to go out there and split the uprights so we can go celebrate… And that’s what he did.
“This was a great win for our program,” Holtz added. “This was a big game as far as the conference standings are concerned, and our kids maintained their composure and came out of here with a huge victory.”
The Pirates led for most of the day as Hartman gave them an early lead on field goals of 31 and 51 yards.
After Marshall cut the deficit to 6-3 on a 31-yard field goal by Craig Ratanamorn with 1:41 left in the opening half, the Pirates responded with their best drive of the game.
ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney completed 6-of-8 passes for 70 yards in the final two minutes, including a five-yard scoring toss to Davon Drew with 12 seconds left in the opening half to give ECU a 13-3 at intermission.
“We’ve been working on the fade pass a lot in practice, and tonight it got called,” said Drew of the late touchdown pass. “I knew I had to step up and make a play. Patrick delivered a perfect pass, and we got the touchdown.”
The momentum from the touchdown didn’t last very long.
Marshall’s Darius Marshall returned the second half kickoff 53 yards to set the Herd up at the ECU 47-yard line. After a couple of big first down runs of five and 17 yards by Marshall, Thundering Herd quarterback Mark Cann connected with tight end Cody Slate on a seven-yard slant route in the back of the end zone. However, the PAT attempt bounced off the right upright, making the score 13-9.
The Pirates stretched the lead to 16-9 with 2:55 left in third quarter as Hartman connected on his third field goal of the day, this time from 21 yards out.
From there, the Pirates defense appeared to be in control.
East Carolina limited Marshall to just 121 yards in the final, 22 minutes with two plays accounting for 84 of those yards.
“Outside of two plays, our defense played probably the best game I’ve ever seen them play,” Holtz said. “They were outstanding this afternoon.”
But the Pirates kept giving Marshall chances.
ECU was poised to take a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but running back Norman Whitley fumbled the ball at the Herd 15-yard line to give the ball back to Marshall.
In the final two minutes, the Pirates had the opportunity to close out the contest on a 3rd-and-2 from their own 24-yard line. With Marshall out of timeouts, ECU needed one first down to run out the clock. But running back brandon Simmons came up a half a yard shy, forcing an ECU punt.
On the punt, the normally reliable Matt Dodge shanked the ball off the side of the foot for a 15-yard kick, giving Marshall the ball at ECU’s 40-yard line.
Two plays later, Marshall capitalized on the Pirates’ miscues as Cann found Slate on a 34-yard touchdown strike to tie the game at 16-16 with 1:21 left in the contest.
On the ensuing possession, the Pirates had their chance to take the lead back.
After T.J. Lee returned the ball to the Pirates’ 23-yard line, Pinkney connected with Davon Drew on a 29-yard pass down to the Marshall 48-yard line.
After Simmons carried the ball for five yards, Pinkney then connected with Darryl Freeney for an 11-yard pass down to the Marshall 32-yard line.
Four plays later, Hartman trotted onto the field to attempt a game-winning 43-yarder.
But as the clock struck zero, Hartman’s kick sailed to the left of the uprights, forcing the overtime.
East Carolina won the toss and elected to go defense first.
The Pirates held Marshall to no gain in the extra period, giving Marshall a 42-yard field goal attempt. But for the second time on the day, Ratanamorn hooked a field goal attempt wide right.
That allowed Hartman to strut onto the field and reddem himself.
“All I wanted was another shot,” Hartman said. “I didn’t want to let our guys down again, and thankfully they gave me another chance.”
East Carolina’s pass game re-emerged after struggling the last month.
After playing sparingly last week, Pinkney got the start on Saturday, and delivered his best performance of the season. The senior quarterback completed a season-high 26-of-37 passes for 287 yards and a touchdown.
“As a quarterback, you’re not going to come out and play perfectly every game,” Pinkney said. “The coaches had faith in me to get the job done, and we just came out and executed today. Our offense stepped up and made plays when we had to.”
Davon Drew also had another big day as he caught four passes for 80 yards, including a touchdown.
“With the suspensions and injuries we’ve had, we had to make some changes on offense,” coach Skip Holtz said. “Davon has had to take on an increased role, and he’s doing a fabulous job. He’s one of our go-to guys right now.”
Defensively, Emmanuel Davis intercepted two passes - he now has three in the last two games - while defensive ends C.J. Wilson and Zack Slate each added sacks.
With the victory, East Carolina (6-3, 4-1 in Conference USA) has now become bowl eligible for the third straight season. The Pirates also control their own destiny to earn a berth in the C-USA title game.
“This is a huge win for our program,” Pinkney said. “It’s another step towards a conference championship. We just got to maintain our focus and take care of business the next three weeks.”
The Pirates will travel to Hattiesburg, MS next Saturday to take on Southern Miss, which improved to 4-6 (2-4 in C-USA action) with a 17-6 win over Central Florida on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
EAST CAROLINA 19, MARSHALL 16, OT
Marshall 0 3 6 7 0 — 16
East Carolina 3 10 3 0 3 — 19
First Quarter
ECU—FG Hartman 31, 3:41.
Second Quarter
ECU—FG Hartman 51, 9:19.
Mar—FG Ratanamorn 31, 1:41.
ECU—Drew 5 pass from Pinkney (Hartman kick), :12.
Third Quarter
Mar—Slate 7 pass from Cann (kick failed), 10:19.
ECU—FG Hartman 21, 2:55.
Fourth Quarter
Mar—Slate 34 pass from Cann (Warner kick), 1:21.
Overtime
ECU—FG Hartman 27.
A—43,515.
———
Mar ECU
First downs 15 20
Rushes-yards 36-149 38-100
Passing 137 287
Comp-Att-Int 13-30-2 26-37-0
Return Yards 0 31
Punts-Avg. 4-32.8 5-34.6
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 3-20 7-94
Time of Possession 34:09 25:51
———
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Marshall, Marshall 20-123, Small 12-32, Passmore 1-3, Cann 3-(minus 9). East Carolina, Whitley 23-68, B.Simmons 7-21, Pinkney 7-13, Harris 1-(minus 2).
PASSING—Marshall, Cann 13-29-2-137, Milligan 0-1-0-0. East Carolina, Pinkney 26-37-0-287.
RECEIVING—Marshall, Slate 5-62, Passmore 2-58, Marshall 2-4, L.Smith 1-7, Small 1-3, Wynn 1-2, Milligan 1-1. East Carolina, Whitley 5-60, Harris 5-39, Lee 4-61, Drew 3-51, B.Simmons 3-10, Taylor 2-29, Womack 2-23, Freeney 1-11, Kraemer 1-3.
After missing a 43-yard field goal on the last play of regulation, Hartman redeemed himself by splitting the uprights from 27 yards out in the extra session, to help East Carolina survive a scare from Marshall and jump into the driver’s seat in the race for Conference USA’s East Division crown, with a 19-16 win over the Thundering Herd at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium Saturday afternoon. .
“He hooked the first one at the end of regulation,” ECU coach Skip Holtz said. “In overtime, I told him to go out there and split the uprights so we can go celebrate… And that’s what he did.
“This was a great win for our program,” Holtz added. “This was a big game as far as the conference standings are concerned, and our kids maintained their composure and came out of here with a huge victory.”
The Pirates led for most of the day as Hartman gave them an early lead on field goals of 31 and 51 yards.
After Marshall cut the deficit to 6-3 on a 31-yard field goal by Craig Ratanamorn with 1:41 left in the opening half, the Pirates responded with their best drive of the game.
ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney completed 6-of-8 passes for 70 yards in the final two minutes, including a five-yard scoring toss to Davon Drew with 12 seconds left in the opening half to give ECU a 13-3 at intermission.
“We’ve been working on the fade pass a lot in practice, and tonight it got called,” said Drew of the late touchdown pass. “I knew I had to step up and make a play. Patrick delivered a perfect pass, and we got the touchdown.”
The momentum from the touchdown didn’t last very long.
Marshall’s Darius Marshall returned the second half kickoff 53 yards to set the Herd up at the ECU 47-yard line. After a couple of big first down runs of five and 17 yards by Marshall, Thundering Herd quarterback Mark Cann connected with tight end Cody Slate on a seven-yard slant route in the back of the end zone. However, the PAT attempt bounced off the right upright, making the score 13-9.
The Pirates stretched the lead to 16-9 with 2:55 left in third quarter as Hartman connected on his third field goal of the day, this time from 21 yards out.
From there, the Pirates defense appeared to be in control.
East Carolina limited Marshall to just 121 yards in the final, 22 minutes with two plays accounting for 84 of those yards.
“Outside of two plays, our defense played probably the best game I’ve ever seen them play,” Holtz said. “They were outstanding this afternoon.”
But the Pirates kept giving Marshall chances.
ECU was poised to take a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but running back Norman Whitley fumbled the ball at the Herd 15-yard line to give the ball back to Marshall.
In the final two minutes, the Pirates had the opportunity to close out the contest on a 3rd-and-2 from their own 24-yard line. With Marshall out of timeouts, ECU needed one first down to run out the clock. But running back brandon Simmons came up a half a yard shy, forcing an ECU punt.
On the punt, the normally reliable Matt Dodge shanked the ball off the side of the foot for a 15-yard kick, giving Marshall the ball at ECU’s 40-yard line.
Two plays later, Marshall capitalized on the Pirates’ miscues as Cann found Slate on a 34-yard touchdown strike to tie the game at 16-16 with 1:21 left in the contest.
On the ensuing possession, the Pirates had their chance to take the lead back.
After T.J. Lee returned the ball to the Pirates’ 23-yard line, Pinkney connected with Davon Drew on a 29-yard pass down to the Marshall 48-yard line.
After Simmons carried the ball for five yards, Pinkney then connected with Darryl Freeney for an 11-yard pass down to the Marshall 32-yard line.
Four plays later, Hartman trotted onto the field to attempt a game-winning 43-yarder.
But as the clock struck zero, Hartman’s kick sailed to the left of the uprights, forcing the overtime.
East Carolina won the toss and elected to go defense first.
The Pirates held Marshall to no gain in the extra period, giving Marshall a 42-yard field goal attempt. But for the second time on the day, Ratanamorn hooked a field goal attempt wide right.
That allowed Hartman to strut onto the field and reddem himself.
“All I wanted was another shot,” Hartman said. “I didn’t want to let our guys down again, and thankfully they gave me another chance.”
East Carolina’s pass game re-emerged after struggling the last month.
After playing sparingly last week, Pinkney got the start on Saturday, and delivered his best performance of the season. The senior quarterback completed a season-high 26-of-37 passes for 287 yards and a touchdown.
“As a quarterback, you’re not going to come out and play perfectly every game,” Pinkney said. “The coaches had faith in me to get the job done, and we just came out and executed today. Our offense stepped up and made plays when we had to.”
Davon Drew also had another big day as he caught four passes for 80 yards, including a touchdown.
“With the suspensions and injuries we’ve had, we had to make some changes on offense,” coach Skip Holtz said. “Davon has had to take on an increased role, and he’s doing a fabulous job. He’s one of our go-to guys right now.”
Defensively, Emmanuel Davis intercepted two passes - he now has three in the last two games - while defensive ends C.J. Wilson and Zack Slate each added sacks.
With the victory, East Carolina (6-3, 4-1 in Conference USA) has now become bowl eligible for the third straight season. The Pirates also control their own destiny to earn a berth in the C-USA title game.
“This is a huge win for our program,” Pinkney said. “It’s another step towards a conference championship. We just got to maintain our focus and take care of business the next three weeks.”
The Pirates will travel to Hattiesburg, MS next Saturday to take on Southern Miss, which improved to 4-6 (2-4 in C-USA action) with a 17-6 win over Central Florida on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
EAST CAROLINA 19, MARSHALL 16, OT
Marshall 0 3 6 7 0 — 16
East Carolina 3 10 3 0 3 — 19
First Quarter
ECU—FG Hartman 31, 3:41.
Second Quarter
ECU—FG Hartman 51, 9:19.
Mar—FG Ratanamorn 31, 1:41.
ECU—Drew 5 pass from Pinkney (Hartman kick), :12.
Third Quarter
Mar—Slate 7 pass from Cann (kick failed), 10:19.
ECU—FG Hartman 21, 2:55.
Fourth Quarter
Mar—Slate 34 pass from Cann (Warner kick), 1:21.
Overtime
ECU—FG Hartman 27.
A—43,515.
———
Mar ECU
First downs 15 20
Rushes-yards 36-149 38-100
Passing 137 287
Comp-Att-Int 13-30-2 26-37-0
Return Yards 0 31
Punts-Avg. 4-32.8 5-34.6
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 3-20 7-94
Time of Possession 34:09 25:51
———
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Marshall, Marshall 20-123, Small 12-32, Passmore 1-3, Cann 3-(minus 9). East Carolina, Whitley 23-68, B.Simmons 7-21, Pinkney 7-13, Harris 1-(minus 2).
PASSING—Marshall, Cann 13-29-2-137, Milligan 0-1-0-0. East Carolina, Pinkney 26-37-0-287.
RECEIVING—Marshall, Slate 5-62, Passmore 2-58, Marshall 2-4, L.Smith 1-7, Small 1-3, Wynn 1-2, Milligan 1-1. East Carolina, Whitley 5-60, Harris 5-39, Lee 4-61, Drew 3-51, B.Simmons 3-10, Taylor 2-29, Womack 2-23, Freeney 1-11, Kraemer 1-3.
 |
 |
|
| Eight area teams qualifying for football playoffs | Goddard gets another pick |
