Annual scrimmage set to wrap up spring

Holtz excited about competition

By: SID

Posted: 4/10/08

The ECU football team will complete spring practice this Saturday afternoon, April 12, with the annual Purple-Gold game.

Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Students will be admitted into the contest free of charge, as long as they present a valid ECU OneCard at the gate. Non-student tickets are $5 and can be purchased online at ECUPirates.com, by calling 328-2300 or at the ticket gate the day of the game.

ECU began its sixth and final week of spring workouts under the guidance of fourth-year Head Coach Skip Holtz and staff, with a brisk two-hour session Monday afternoon on Hight Field inside the Cliff Moore Practice Complex.

The Pirates returned to action in shorts and helmets after conducting their second intra-squad scrimmage of the season last Friday afternoon. After turning in its 13th practice of the spring period Monday, ECU had just one more workout scheduled for Wednesday before closing camp with the Purple-Gold game.

Holtz opted to put the Pirates in shorts after Friday's physical contest for light correction work before returning to pads Wednesday.

"There have been a lot of positives this spring," Holtz said after having the chance to review film of the scrimmage.

"There are still a lot of battles out there as the underclassmen are trying to prove which level they belong on. It's certainly been enjoyable to see the younger guys develop and grow during this process."

Holtz cited the play of sophomore cornerbacks Darryl Reynolds and Travis Simmons in particular as an example of the progress, a development that has enabled the Pirates to get a look at senior Leon Best at a safety position. Best started six of 13 games at corner in 2007, standing among the unit's top 10 tacklers with 41 stops while ranking second in interceptions.

After Wednesday's full-gear practice, ECU's coaching staff conducted a player draft to select roster positions for the Purple-Gold Game.

The offense shined in ECU's last scrimmage, which took place last Friday at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Senior running back Dominique Lindsay rushed for a game-high 73 yards while senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney threw for 180 yards, 42 coming on a late first half touchdown strike to Jamar Bryant, to highlight the scrimmage.

Lindsay, who also recorded one reception for 22 yards and came just five yards shy of racking up 100 yards of total offense, shared time with sophomore Jonathan Williams in the backfield for the Pirates' No. 1 offensive unit during the contest. Pinkney, who finished the game completing 12-of-23 passes, found Bryant in the back of the endzone on the last play prior to halftime to account for one of two touchdowns that the No. 1 unit tallied during the afternoon. In addition to the 42-yarder to Bryant, Pinkney also connected with sophomore wide receiver Dwayne Harris (26) and Lindsay (22) on big aerial gainers.

"There were some good things out there today," Holtz said after the scrimmage. "The offense put together some long drives where they were methodical in moving the ball down the field. Although I thought the hitting was decent, we seem a little tired. … We have been beating on each other for 12 days and I think our guys are ready to move on to the season the opening half, each No. 1 unit faced off against the No. 2 squad across the line of scrimmage while the second period featured a more traditional match-up of equal levels of the depth chart."

The top unit opened the second half converting three straight third down plays on the way to its second score- a 10-yard run by senior fullback Jason Simmons. Each squad also produced a pair of Ben Hartman field goals as the Pirates' junior kicker connected from 41 and 38 yards out.

Junior Rob Kass, who completed seven-of-19 passes for 68 yards, opened the scrimmage engineering the No. 2 offense but later split time with Pinkney running both units. Combined, the Pirates finished the game with 625 yards of total offense on 123 plays - an average of 5.1 yards per snap.

In all, the Pirates' offense completed 35-of-67 passes for 424 yards while suffering a pair of interceptions and contributed 201 rushing yards on 56 carries, an average of 3.6 yards per attempt.

In addition to Lindsay's game-high numbers, Williams contributed 61 yards on 11 carries, while junior J.R. Rogers added 34 yards on eight attempts and senior Brandon Simmons chipped in 26 yards on eight rushes. Bryant led all receivers with 77 yards on three catches while Harris netted 65 yards on a game-high six receptions. Newly-converted redshirt freshman receiver D.J. McFadden logged a trio of grabs for 34 yards while sophomore transfer T.J. Terrell registered five catches for 27 yards.

Defensively, junior linebacker Nick Johnson was credited with 11 stops and a sack while sophomore transfer tackle, Josh Smith, tallied eight tackles and redshirt freshman linebacker Steve Spence added seven hits, including one for a loss of seven yards.

"I am pleased with some of our younger players," Holtz added. "I think they are really stepping up and they have a great chance to help this football team. I also feel that the leadership is starting to evolve from this senior class."

Saturday's spring game will be the last look fans will get at the ECU football team for a long time. The Pirates will open up fall practice next fall, just weeks before the 2008 season-opener in Charlotte against Virginia Tech on Aug. 30.