Spring Break
Pirate offense explodes on Senior Day
ECU wins regular season finale
Kellen Holtzman
Issue date: 12/2/08 Section: Sports
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Getting his team to the conference championship game has been a much more difficult process than ECU coach Skip Holtz thought it would be. Holtz will lead the Pirates into Oklahoma this Saturday for a title date with Tulsa.
"I think I am more proud of this football team for what they have accomplished and the adversity they have gone through had I been had we stayed healthy and gone undefeated," said Holtz.
The Miners (5-7, 4-4) finally got on the board late in the second quarter when running back Terrell Jackson broke loose for a 28-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-7. ECU (8-4, 6-2) answered with its longest kickoff return of the season, a 61-yard runback from unheralded freshman Michael Bowman.
Bowman's big run resulted in a short pass play to tailback Brandon Simmons, raising the Pirates' lead to 30-7 at the half. A Ben Hartman miss broke a streak of 77 consecutive made extra points.
Simmons led ECU with four total touchdowns in his final game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The senior rushed for 115 yards and three touchdowns in addition to his 7-yard touchdown reception.
"I couldn't be more proud of Brandon Simmons and the attitude that he's had as a senior," Holtz said. "He played a little bit early and now Norman [Whitley] has kind of taken the thunder. He got his opportunity today on Senior Day and he ran the ball 27 times. He ran physical. He ran hard. I thought he really did a nice job."
Whitley had a noteworthy performance as well, rushing for 79 yards on just 12 carries.
The scoring explosion was a pleasant surprise for an offense that has only scored 30 points one time this season and hadn't scored 40 points, let alone 50 points this season.
Quarterback Patrick Pinkney went 17-for-23 and threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon.
"It feels great," Pinkney said of the Senior Day performance. "At the same time, we could have been doing that all year. It's all about execution and we did that today. The offensive line played great today. I don't think I hit the ground one time today."
Not only was Pinkney not sacked, but the offense did not punt or give away any turnovers.
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Lucas
posted 12/02/08 @ 10:21 AM EST
First off we are going to the ship!!! Most importantly way to go pirates best game all year. you guys looked focused, determined and really played well. (Continued…)
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