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Special Spring Game Report
Saturday, April 12, 2003
By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist |
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Copper golden in Purple
victory
©2003 Bonesville.net
A Conference USA championship wasn't on the line in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
Saturday, but pride and bragging rights were.
Absent since 1998, the Spring Game, which split the East Carolina
football roster into two teams -- Purple and Gold -- made a much-anticipated
return, marking the beginning of the John Thompson era in Greenville.
To add incentive and fuel intensity, the first-year Pirates coach, who
has received high praise from his team throughout spring camp for his
enthusiastic approach, offered a meal with five-star service to the winner.
That was all the motivation needed for defensive tackle Damane Duckett,
whose Purple team pitched a 16-0 shutout in front of an announced crowd of
8,914.
Now Duckett, who tallied four tackles and a sack, can enjoy a meal fit
for a king, with members of the Gold squad providing the service.
"That's the best prize right there," Duckett said. "Vonta's (Leach) been
calling me out all week. I'm going to get him a little apron and put his
name across the bottom of it and let him serve me up."
Receiver Terrance Copper, who finished with eight catches for 126 yards,
served up the game's only touchdowns.
His 48-yard score with 7:49 remaining before the half brought the fans to
their feet, as he out-dueled his defender on an underthrown ball by
quarterback Desmond Robinson, then broke three tackles on his way to the end
zone. He added the exclamation point by hauling in a ten-yard strike from
Sakeen Wright with 4:25 to play.
"You saw what he's been doing all spring long," Thompson said. "He was a
difference maker."
"Every time Desmond needed a play, he was looking right at Terrance. If
Terrance had been on the other side, the outcome may have been different.
He was that big of a factor in the game. He's been a playmaker for us."
Robinson made his fair share of plays, too, completing 12-of-17 passes
for 182 yards and a touchdown. The redshirt junior entered the game No. 2
on the post-spring depth chart, but produced better numbers than starter
Paul Troth.
"Coach Stock has been a really good teacher," Robinson said. "He came in
and there's a little bit different terminology, but it's really not that
hard."
"I love the shotgun. I like to get more time to escape out of the
pocket."
Troth finished a modest 4-of-13 on the day, but was on target with the
majority of his passes. Redshirt freshman Kevin Roach dropped three
dead-aim strikes, including what appeared to be a sure-fire score in the
second quarter.
Though the Gold passing game sputtered, the running game thundered.
Leach pummeled over and around Purple defenders en route to a 14-carry,
108-yard performance.
The senior linebacker-turned-running back began the day at fullback, but
was forced into one-back duty when tailback Dominique Hatcher was forced to
leave due to injury.
"I thought Vonta Leach really established himself as a hard-nosed, way to
play the game football guy," Thompson said. "Whether it's blocking, whether
it's taking a pounding, or running the football."
"We said we were going to be physical and I think we were. We even had
coach Shep Campbell throw a shoulder out in pre-game. That tells you a
little bit about how physical we were."
With spring drills now complete, Thompson can turn his attention to the
summer and addressing a few concerns. One of those is the kicking game,
where Cameron Broadwell and Chris Baglio are competing for starting
place-kicking duties.
Another is the receiver position, where the Pirates coach is seeking a
consistent compliment to Copper.
"We need a lot of Terrance Coppers," Thompson said. "Those other guys
have got to step up and do it and be consistent."
"We had some drops that we can't have. They catch them and then maybe
we're talking about them. It goes to the summer now and we turn our
attention to getting better in the summer."
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02/23/2007 01:51:23 AM
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