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NEWS, NOTES &
COMMENTARY
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The Bradsher Beat
Friday, November 2, 2007
By Bethany Bradsher |
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Players chime in on enduring
the test
By
Bethany Bradsher
©2007 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
It rises up between Mile 20 and Mile 21 on the
Boston Marathon course, only an 80-foot rise but a daunting obstacle to
runners who have already nearly depleted the stores in their muscles and
lungs.
Some 20,000 runners face Heartbreak Hill each
year and reach down deep for a surge of energy that will carry them over the
rise and straight through to the finish line.
In Memphis on Saturday,
some 125 East Carolina football players will be loping up their own version
of Heartbreak Hill.
Nine games behind them,
with a fingertip grasp on a 5-4 winning record. Two regular season games
ahead, with a bye week sandwiched between that comes so late to be almost
worthless for rest and recuperation.
Of course, the Pirates
are determined to finish the course still
at the front of the Conference USA East Division,
which would lead to the Dec. 1 league championship game and an undetermined
bowl game.
All of which adds up to a
chance to fulfill every team’s most ardent wish during the dog days of the
season — a strong finish fueled by the adrenaline of playing fine-tuned
football at the optimal time.
To flesh out the finer
points of this crucial stretch of the college football marathon, I asked the
same four questions to three key ECU players — quarterback Patrick Pinkney
on offense, safety and top tackler Van Eskridge on defense and walk-on Dirty
Dozen contributor Juan Quantanilla on special teams. My inquiries, and their
responses, are below:
THE MOST RECENT
TRIUMPH: There was plenty to celebrate in Saturday’s 41-6 victory over
UAB, so I asked each Pirate about the top clip in their personal highlight
film from that victory:
Pinkney: “Just
going out there and leading my team. Just having the confidence, and my
teammates believing in me and the coaches giving me an opportunity again to
get on the field.”
Eskridge: “It
wasn’t even a touchdown, but it was a carry Dwayne Harris had, broke about
six or seven tackles reverse field, and ended up picking up 20 or 25 yards.
It was just a great run, showed great athleticism, strength, balance,
everything.”
Quantanilla: “I
had my family here (from Faison). I got tickets for all of them, and they
made it, so that was special. I played pretty good, I had two tackles, so
that was good.”
THE NECESSARY PAIN FOR
THE GAIN: At this point in the season, aches and pains become harder to
ignore. I asked them where they hurt the most on a post-game Sunday:
Pinkney: “I guess
going in the weight room and messing with Coach (Michael) Golden. It helps
us. We don’t want to, but we have to.”
Eskridge: “My
shoulders. That comes from tackling, taking on blocks, all of that good
stuff.”
Quantanilla: “Your
legs, probably. You’re worn out from running so much that day and all week
long to that point.”
THE BEST THING THEY
HAVE GOING: The cream truly rises to the top when game totals approach
double digits, so the ECU trio chimed in on the greatest Pirate advantage as
they travel to Memphis:
Pinkney: “Just
sticking together. Just being a family and looking out for one another. I
think that’s been a big help for us. Defense has had their bad days, and
offense picked them up, offense has had our bad days and defense picked us
up.”
Eskridge: “After
that UAB game, we finally got that confidence and that swagger back that we
had last year. Our confidence is probably the best thing we’ve got going for
us.”
Quantanilla: “Team
unity. We believe in each other, and I believe we proved it already with
some tight wins, that we’re sticking by each other and the coaching staff.”
AND THEN THERE'S THAT
HILL... The best victories come when the winners overcome obstacles
along the way. These buccaneers describe the toughest thing facing their
team right now:
Pinkney: “Just
staying in there mentally. I think everybody has to stay in there
mentally, because you never know, we’ve had a lot of injuries, and
they’ve got to be ready to play.”
Eskridge: “The
season gets long because of the grind. You’re pretty much doing the same
thing week in and week out. But you’ve pretty much got to block that out and
focus on the goal at hand, which is to go 1-0.”
Quantanilla:
“Staying focused. We have to stay focused and go three and out from now on.
Actually, four games left, and we have to take one at a time. Like coach
said, we haven’t accomplished anything yet.”
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11/02/2007 01:55:14 AM |
