Spring Football Notebook No. 5
March 29, 2017 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. - With only three days remaining before the program's first full intra-squad scrimmage, East Carolina increased the physicality and intensity level during its fifth workout of the spring practice period Wednesday afternoon. The session, which neared two hours in length, also served as the Pirates' third in full pads.
ECU has nine more scheduled contact days, including two formal scrimmages and the Purple-Gold Game scheduled for April 22.
"I thought we had a lot of energy today from start until finish," second-year head coach Scottie Montgomery said. "Our conditioning and depth are paying off, especially from a competitive nature we need. Executing our fundamentals is key on defense and executing our scheme remains the key on offense."
After the completion of individual work, an offensive skill position blocking exercise that Montgomery termed as a "No Quarter" segment and traditional pass skeleton action, ECU closed practice with extended team-on-team periods that presented the program with its first full-speed scrimmage-like opportunity of the spring. The Pirates worked their way through an approximate play script of 60 snaps, which included first (and 10) and third (and eight) down situational emphasis.
Quarterbacks Gardner Minshew (8-of-14, 176 yards) and Reid Herring (7-of-12, 116) took the majority of snaps during the team session and combined on 15-of-26 passing for 292 yards. Minshew turned in the longest throw with a 38-yarder to Quay Johnson, while Herring found Malik Gray with a 30-yard toss. From a rushing perspective, Hussein Howe, Devin Anderson, Derrell Scott and Anthony Scott combined for 163 yards on 20 attempts - an average of 8.2 yards per carry.
Among the Pirate defense's highlights were a pair of interceptions by Chandon Hickerson and Travis Phillips, along with fumble recoveries by Ben Norris and Chance Purvis.
East Carolina ended the day with a unique, but spirited three-on-three, three-downs-to-score competition which enabled the offense and defense to flip sides from a ball-carrying standpoint.
NOTES:
Malik Gray, Deondre Farrier and Quay Johnson each had a team-high three receptions during the team segment, while Tony Harvey ripped off the longest single rush with a 60-yard touchdown jaunt ... Junior tight end Beau Huffman, who played in all 12 games as a member of the Pirates' special teams unit (one solo tackle) last fall, has left the program for personal reasons ... Huffman earned a roster position as a walk-on in the fall of 2014 ... His departure leaves four TE's on ECU's spring depth chart - seniors Stephen Baggett and Devin Carlos, along with sophomores Anthony Watley and Eric Weber.
EAST CAROLINA'S 2017 SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Next Workout: Friday, March 31 (4:30 p.m.-6:20 p.m.)
Remaining Workouts: April 1 (scrimmage), April 3, April 5, April 7 (scrimmage), April 10, April 12, April 19, April 21 and April 22 (Purple-Gold Game, 2:00 p.m.)
ECU has nine more scheduled contact days, including two formal scrimmages and the Purple-Gold Game scheduled for April 22.
"I thought we had a lot of energy today from start until finish," second-year head coach Scottie Montgomery said. "Our conditioning and depth are paying off, especially from a competitive nature we need. Executing our fundamentals is key on defense and executing our scheme remains the key on offense."
After the completion of individual work, an offensive skill position blocking exercise that Montgomery termed as a "No Quarter" segment and traditional pass skeleton action, ECU closed practice with extended team-on-team periods that presented the program with its first full-speed scrimmage-like opportunity of the spring. The Pirates worked their way through an approximate play script of 60 snaps, which included first (and 10) and third (and eight) down situational emphasis.
Quarterbacks Gardner Minshew (8-of-14, 176 yards) and Reid Herring (7-of-12, 116) took the majority of snaps during the team session and combined on 15-of-26 passing for 292 yards. Minshew turned in the longest throw with a 38-yarder to Quay Johnson, while Herring found Malik Gray with a 30-yard toss. From a rushing perspective, Hussein Howe, Devin Anderson, Derrell Scott and Anthony Scott combined for 163 yards on 20 attempts - an average of 8.2 yards per carry.
Among the Pirate defense's highlights were a pair of interceptions by Chandon Hickerson and Travis Phillips, along with fumble recoveries by Ben Norris and Chance Purvis.
East Carolina ended the day with a unique, but spirited three-on-three, three-downs-to-score competition which enabled the offense and defense to flip sides from a ball-carrying standpoint.
NOTES:
Malik Gray, Deondre Farrier and Quay Johnson each had a team-high three receptions during the team segment, while Tony Harvey ripped off the longest single rush with a 60-yard touchdown jaunt ... Junior tight end Beau Huffman, who played in all 12 games as a member of the Pirates' special teams unit (one solo tackle) last fall, has left the program for personal reasons ... Huffman earned a roster position as a walk-on in the fall of 2014 ... His departure leaves four TE's on ECU's spring depth chart - seniors Stephen Baggett and Devin Carlos, along with sophomores Anthony Watley and Eric Weber.
EAST CAROLINA'S 2017 SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Next Workout: Friday, March 31 (4:30 p.m.-6:20 p.m.)
Remaining Workouts: April 1 (scrimmage), April 3, April 5, April 7 (scrimmage), April 10, April 12, April 19, April 21 and April 22 (Purple-Gold Game, 2:00 p.m.)
Players Mentioned
Running Back
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Wide Receiver
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Quarterback
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Defensive End
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Running Back
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Tight End
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Wide Receiver
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Quarterback
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Tight End
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Defensive Back
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Defensive End
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Running Back
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Running Back
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Tight End
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Tight End
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