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Fresh faces, change in practice tactics produce
results
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The game story
and the post-game
audio, as penned and
digitally recorded by
Denny O'Brien. |
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By Denny O'Brien
©2002 Bonesville.net
BOX SCORE...
BONESVILLE GAME CENTER...
GREENVILLE — It wasn't exactly Bowden Bowl IV, but
Saturday's East Carolina-Army matchup was no less of a family feud.
The game marked the third meeting between Pirates coach
Steve Logan and his former offensive coordinator, Black Knights coach Todd
Berry.
For Berry, who entered the game winless in two tries against
his former boss, the third time wasn't the charm.
Sparked by four Army turnovers and a 161-yard,
three-touchdown effort by fullback Art Brown, East Carolina shook off last
week's disappointing loss at West Virginia in blowout fashion, routing a
struggling Black Knights team 59-24 in front of 38,111.
"We did some things better this week compared to last week,"
Logan said. "But it wasn't West Virginia we were playing, though. I didn't
want that to be overlooked.
"We've got a lot of things to work on next week. The
inexperience still jumps up sometimes at the quarterback and linebacker
positions."
Playing without seven starters, East Carolina (2-3, 2-0
Conference USA) introduced new personnel into the mix, as several freshmen
and sophomores got their first taste of action against Army (0-5, 0-3),
which out-gained the Pirates 374-328 despite the loss.
Perhaps no debut was more notable than that of backup
quarterback Desmond Robinson, who directed two East Carolina scoring drives,
one in each half. His two-yard bootleg scamper with 6:06 left to play in
the third quarter slammed the door on the Knights, giving the Pirates a
comfortable 45-24 lead.
"It felt pretty good," Robinson said of the his first-ever
score. "It was a great play call. It was a play-action pass and the guy
kind of bit on the fake. It was just wide open."
Starting quarterback Paul Troth enjoyed his most efficient
day as a Pirate, completing 8-of-13 passes for 127 yards and two
touchdowns. Troth tallied the bulk of his yardage before the intermission,
as the Davidson sophomore guided the Pirates to an early 28-3 lead.
After the game, Logan praised both of his young field
generals and said it was important that Robinson saw action.
"The opportunity was right to get him in and he put us in
the end zone," Logan said. "That helps everyone. It helps Desmond. It
helps Paul. And it helps our locker room."
Troth echoed his coach's thoughts and didn't seem to mind
sharing time with his understudy.
"I was just glad to see him in there," Troth said. "It gave
me the chance to step back and focus on playing better. I felt that, with
Desmond in there, our offense wasn't going to miss a beat. We don't want to
send somebody in there and just run three plays and out. I was excited to
see him in there."
It was a well-rounded performance for East Carolina, which
got another stellar outing from punt return specialist Terrance Copper,
whose 76-yard jolt set up a Pirates score. And for the second-consecutive
week, the Pirates notched a defensive touchdown, this time when redshirt
freshman Chris Moore snagged an errant Zac Dahman pass, returning it 41
yards for the final score.
Moore also had a first half interception, which was the
first of his brief career.
"That was wonderful," Logan said. "Our defense created
turnovers. That's two weeks in a row and those are characteristics that you
can't coach. If we become a unit that scores on defense, that'd be
something that will help us down the stretch."
After trading turnovers to open the second half, Army needed
just 53 seconds to make things interesting, marching 58 yards and closing
the score to 38-24. Dahman, who entered the game in relief of an
ineffective Matt Silva, connected with Lamar Mason on a 38-yard strike to
set up the touchdown, a one-yard plunge by Josh Holden.
But Army would get no closer, as the Pirates scored 21
unanswered points to close it out.
A fumble on Army's second play from scrimmage set up the
first score of the game, a one-yard plunge by Marvin Townes. The sophomore
fullback accounted for all 31 yards on the Pirates' opening drive, rushing
twice for six yards and catching a 25-yard pass from Troth on ECU's first
play from scrimmage.
The Black Knights charged right back, closing the score to
7-3 on a Paul Stelzer 29-yard field goal. Carlton Jones' 36-yard scamper to
the ECU 15 highlighted he eight-play, 63-yard drive.
Army's second turnover of the day, a Chris Moore
interception, led to another Pirates touchdown, this a one-yard run by Brown
that upped the score to 14-3. The drive marked the debut of Robinson, who
had been hampered by an injury in ECU's first four contests.
Troth's 49-yard scoring strike to Richard Alston to close
the first quarter of play pushed the Pirates' lead to 21-3.
"I didn't really get to see it," Troth said of touchdown.
"I heard he just went up and got it. Richard's really come around with his
play."
Troth's second touchdown pass, a three-yard toss to Brown
with 10:36 to play before intermission gave the Pirates a 28-3 cushion. The
score was set up by Copper's 76-yard punt return, which placed the ball at
the Army seven.
It was the seventh longest punt return in ECU history.
Berry dug into his bag of tricks to pull the Black Knights
closer, converting a halfback pass from Marcellus Chapman to Aris Comeaux,
cutting the Pirates' lead to 28-10.
It didn't take the Pirates' long to answer, though, after
Townes returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards, giving ECU excellent field
position. Two carries and 46 yards later, Brown dashed into the end zone
for his second touchdown of the day.
An 84-yard punt return by Comeaux followed by a 46-yard
Kevin Miller field goal gave the Pirates a 38-17 halftime lead.
East Carolina, which altered it's weekly regimen to
incorporate more contact, now has two weeks to prepare for a tough South
Florida team.
According to Logan, the Pirates will likely maintain that
mentality for the remainder of the season.
"We're going full pads," Logan said. "It's going to be
Vietnam from here on out. They're going to have to work their way out of
the pads."
BOX SCORE...
BONESVILLE GAME CENTER...
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02/23/2007 01:50:57 AM
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