Big Plays Highlight First Full Scrimmage
March 11, 2004 | Football
Big plays on both defense and offense highlighted the situational scrimmage, which pitted the Pirates' various offensive and defensive units against one another.
"There was a lot of competing out there today," head coach John Thompson said. "Both sides did well. We created some turnovers on defense, which was a positive, but on offense, we've got to find a way to avoid making so many turnovers.
"We put them in a lot of situations and some guys really stood out."
ECU's offense was led by the running of sophomore Robert Tillman, who carried 24 times for 104 yards and four touchdowns. The Pirates' pair of 1,000-yard rushers, seniors Art Brown and Marvin Townes, both sat out of Thursday's scrimmage due to injuries.
Junior Tyrece Hayden also saw a large number of carries, rushing for 74 yards on nine attempts.
Sophomore James Pinkney had the best stats of ECU's three quarterbacks as he completed 12 of 22 passes for 177 yards. However, he suffered three interceptions. Senior Desmond Robinson was 4-for-11 for 84 yards and one touchdown, a 56-yard scoring strike to Tillman. Transfer Patrick Dosh went 8-for-26 for 95 yards and four INTs.
Sophomore Kevin Roach led the ECU receiving corps with four catches for 47 yards and one touchdown. A total of 14 different Pirates had receptions.
On defense, junior lineman Shauntae Hunt led the way with three sacks plus recorded a safety early in the scrimmage. Newcomer Patrick Dickerson had two of the defense's seven interceptions. Junior Mickey McCoy had a pair of sacks.
The scrimmage was controlled by actual officials, who whistled the Pirates for a total of 14 penalties.
The team will take next week off for spring break before returning to the practice fields on Tuesday, March 23.
Scrimmage Statistics - Thursday, March 11
Scoring
Veal 1 run (Broadwell kick)
Safety, Hunt tackle in end zone
FG Broadwell 43
Roach 15 pass from Robinson
Hayden 24 run (Broadwell kick)
Tillman 10 run (Broadwell kick)
Burke 7 run (kick failed)
Tillman 5 run (Broadwell kick)
Tillman 4 run (Broadwell kick)
Tillman 3 run (Broadwell kick)
FG Broadwell 28
Individual Statistics
RUSHING -- Tillman 24-104, Hayden 9-74, Burke 6-16, Veal 2-3, Shankweiler 1-3, Dosh 3-(-9), Robinson 4-(-14), Fox 1-(-13), Pinkney 8-(-16).
PASSING -- Pinkney 12-22-3 177, Dosh 8-26-4 95, Robinson 4-11-0 84, Bland 1-1-0 10.
RECEIVING -- Roach 4-47, Veal 3-33, Tillman 2-57, Coffman 2-55, Bland 2-37, Good 2-36, Rogers 2-28, Harris 2-25, Rios 1-45, Levesque 1-27, Dosh 1-10, Burke 1-10, Hayden 1-5. Fox 1-2.
