Spring Break
Pirates take control of East Division
ECU wins second consecutive OT game
Jared Jackson, Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/11/08 Section: Sports
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ECU's junior kicker boomed a 27-yard field goal on the Pirates' first possession of overtime to defeat Conference USA East division rival Marshall, 19-16, in front of a homecoming crowd of 43,515--the seventh largest ever in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium history.
Hartman also made field goals from 31, 51 and 21 yards in the game, but failed to win the game for the Pirates in regulation when he missed a 42-yarder wide left as time expired.
"It should have been over at the end of four quarters," Hartman said. "Luckily the defense makes a stand and they missed a field goal in overtime, and we win the game," Hartman said.
Hartman isn't a stranger to this situation. His game-winner came on the heels of making a 39-yarder to beat UCF last weekend in overtime. The deciding field goal against the Thundering Herd was also the kicker's fourth career game-winner.
"Anybody that competes [knows] you always want the ball at end of the game to be the deciding factor," Hartman said.
Prior to kickoff, ECU introduced a new look for their mascot, Pee Dee. But once the Pirates hit the gridiron, they resorted back to their effective game plan that proved to, at times, overbear the Thundering Herd.
"[This was] a great win for the program," ECU coach Skip Holtz said. "This was a big game as far as what we are trying to do in the big picture of things and I was just really proud of the way the players hung in there; it was a great team win."
With the win, ECU has lifted a huge monkey off its back. The Pirates now sit in the driver's seat of the East Division. The position is not unfamiliar territory for the Pirates, who in the last two years have blown a chance at competing in the C-USA title game with late season losses to Rice (2006) and Marshall last year.
But with the victory against the Thundering Herd, the Pirates have what can technically be described as a two-game lead. ECU now owns one more C-USA victory than Marshall, as well as the tiebreaker between the two.
Defense was the story of the day for ECU, as the Pirates were able to hold the Thundering Herd to 286 yards of total offense. On each of Marshall's first two drives, ECU freshman cornerback Emanuel Davis picked off the Herd's freshman quarterback Mark Cann.
"Our mindset this week was to just go out there and play one play at a time and just get the job done," said Davis. "Those two big plays at the beginning of the game just gave us momentum and just carried us throughout."
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