Purple-Gold Game Caps Off Solid Spring Camp for East Carolina
Quarterback’s Kurt Benkert and Philip Nelson combined for 447 yards on 25 of 49 passing overall with one interception as the Pirate offensive squads scored three touchdowns on Saturday and connected on a pair of field goals in the annual ECU spring football game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Benkert led the Purple team to a 17-13 win. He completed 12 of 25 for 216 yards with one interception and one touchdown that occurred on the opening play of the game on a 75-yard bomb to Trevon Brown who caught three passes for 95 yards all told. Benkert also ran for a six-yard touchdown. Nelson also had a good day, connected on 13 of 24 for 231 yards.ECU looked good running the football too with Anthony Scott rushing for 47 yards on 10 carries and a 15-yard touchdown. Devin Anderson looked great on his eight carries that produced 46 yards while Shawn Furlow ran for 17 yards on five carries and Darrell Scott had 10 yards in three carries. James Summers even got into the act with 8 yards on 4 carries.
"I liked the tempo of our offense, but we have to clean up the mental errors and penalties,” first-year head coach Scottie Montgomery said. “The defense felt the tempo today for the first time in a long time and we have to tackle better. Coach (Jeff) Connors has us in great shape and I'm looking forward to the offseason now."
Dedrick Hawkins’ eight tackles led the ECU defense while Ray Tillman had six stops including one in the offensive backfield. Demage Bailey also made six stops from his defensive line post and five others had four tackles apiece all told.
ECU head coach Scottie Montgomery seemed fairly pleased overall with the conclusion of his first spring camp in Greenville and will have plenty of film to study during the summer before the team convenes for fall practice.
"For this spring, we went over what we thought we could get done because our guys have high football IQ's. I'm really happy about what we accomplished. That said, we have a lot of packages that we didn't show today, so it was kind of a restricted deal for us. Our guys have a lot of things on their plates and they handled it well."
POST GAME STATISTICS (Courtesy of ECU Media Relations)
RUSHING: Anthony Scott (10-47, 1 TD), Devin Anderson (8-46), Shawn Furlow (5-17), Kurt Benkert (3-11, 1 TD), Derrell Scott (3-10), James Summers (4-8), Philip Nelson (4-<-13>). Totals –– 37-126 (3.4 ypr), 2 TD.
PASSING: Philip Nelson (24-13-0, 231 yards), Kurt Benkert (25-12-1, 216 yards, 1 TD). Totals –– 49-25-1, 447 yards, 1 TD (51.0%).
RECEIVING: Trevon Brown (3-95, 1 TD), Brandon Bishop (4-92), Davon Grayson (4-85), Terrell Green (4-84), Anthony Scott (4-48), Devin Anderson (1-14), Shawn Furlow (2-9), Deondre Farrier (1-7), Derrell Scott (1-7), Quay Johnson (1-6). Totals –– 25-447, 1 TD
TACKLES: Dedrick Hawkins 8, Ray Tillman 6 (TFL/-1 yard), Demage Bailey 6 (TFL/-1 yard), Dayon Pratt 4 (TFL/-3 yards), Kiante Anderson 4 (TFL/-2 yards, PD), Yiannis Bowden 4, Joe Carter 4, Austin Teague 4, Cam White 3 (TFL/-4 yards), Demetri McGill 3 (TFL/-2 yards), Corey Seargent 3 (2 PD's), Nhyre Quinerly 3 (PD), Travis Phillips 3, Shaun James 2 (TFL/-2 yards), Jordan Williams 2 (PD), Trevian Hicks 2, Chris Love 2, Blake Norwood 2, Terrell Richardson 2, DaShaun Amos 1 (TFL/-1 yard, PD, INT), Randall Anderson 1 (TFL/-1 yard, sack/-1 yard), Fred Presley 1 (TFL/-4 yards), Darius Commissiong 1 (TFL/-3 yards), Marquel King 1 (TFL-2 yards), Joe Allely 1, Pat Green 1, Devon Sutton 1, Anthony Orr 1, Colby Gore (PD)
TOTAL OFFENSE/TOTAL DEFENSE: 86-573 (6.7 ypp)FUMBLES/LOST: 0/0INTERCEPTIONS: 1 (DaShaun Amos)THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 10-18 (55.6%) – Kurt Benkert (6-8), Philip Nelson (4-10)FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS (when attempted): 1-2 (50.0%) – Philip Nelson (1-2)PENALTIES: 7 (5/OFFENSE – 5 false start; 2/DEFENSE – offside, facemask)QUARTERBACK FIRST DOWN/SCORING CHART (DRIVES)
Kurt Benkert – 10 first downs, 2 TD, 1 FG (TD, punt, FG, punt, TD, interception, punt)Philip Nelson – 14 first downs, 1 TD, 2 FG (punt, downs, FG, punt, FG, TD)
SCORING:TDs –3, FG – 2, PATs (3-3)
Trevon Brown 75-yard pass from Kurt Benkert (Davis Plowman PAT)Caleb Pratt 23-yard field goalDavis Plowman 28-yard field goalKurt Benkert 6-yard run (Caleb Pratt PAT)Davis Plowman 27-yard field goalAnthony Scott 15-yard run (Caleb Pratt PAT)
PUNTING:Worth Gregory (5-173 – 34.6 ypp)
Catch the post game words of Scottie Montgomery, DeShaun Amos, Kurt Benkert, Philip Nelson, Tony Petersen and much more from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium here on PirateIllustrated.com.
