Offense Shines In Second East Carolina Scrimmage
April 08, 2005 | Football
Spring Notebook No. 12/Scrimmage No. 2
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- The East Carolina offense used 232 passing yards from red-shirt freshman Davon Drew, 138 all-purpose yards and a pair of touchdowns from junior Edwin Burke, and 97 receiving yards from junior Aundrae Allison to post its most impressive performance of the spring during the Pirates' second full intra-squad scrimmage Friday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
With Drew engineering ECU's top unit, the offense set the tone early by marching 70 yards on its first possession, which was capped by a two-yard scoring run by sophomore tailback Chris Johnson. From there, the Pirates added two more rushing touchdowns and a pair of passing scores during the scrimmage before finishing the night with 577 yards of total offense on 105 plays - an average of 5.5 yards per snap.
The Pirates also completed 33-of-57 passes for 378 yards while suffering two interceptions and contributed 199 rushing yards on 48 carries (4.1 ypp)
"I thought the offense played well in, what was for all practical purposes, our first team scrimmage of the spring," head coach Skip Holtz said. "Last week was so controlled and situational, it was nice to see how the guys reacted in real game-like conditions."
Drew finished the contest completing 21-of-32 passes for 232 yards and connected with junior receiver/tailback Robert Tillman on a 28-yard scoring strike. Junior Kort Shankweiler was 12-of-25 for 146 yards and also contributed a TD pass, finding Burke with a 34-yard toss.
"Drew did some great things today, but he is still learning," Holtz added. "Every snap is crucial during the spring and he and Kort are taking every opportunity they can get. Kort really showed me something by taking the second unit down the field and scoring a couple of times.
"In all, I thought both quarterbacks played well," Holtz continued. "They each threw an interception within five yards of the end zone, but we can work on those things."
Burke rushed for a game-high 97 yards on six carries, which included a four-yard TD run and a 55-yard jaunt late during the scrimmage. In addition to a pair of scoring rushes, Johnson picked up 33 yards on nine carries while Tillman added 29 yards on just four attempts.
"I was very pleased with the offensive line play," said Holtz. "They held their blocks and opened some good holes for Johnson and Burke."
Coupled with Allison's 97 reception yards (seven catches) was Tillman's eight-catch, 69-yard effort to lead all Pirate receivers. Burke logged a pair of grabs for 41 yards and a score while sophomore Juwon Crowell had three catches for 38 yards.
Defensively, freshman linebacker Jarrett Wiggins and senior safety Jamar Flournoy were credited with seven stops each while junior cornerback Erode Jean, senior linebacker Richard Koonce and freshman defensive back Stacy Walls all picked up five tackles.
The Pirates' defense did enjoy several highlights, using a pair of interceptions in the redzone to thwart possible touchdowns. Flournoy picked off a Shankweiler pass and returned it 30 yards before Jean stepped in front of a Drew attempt in the endzone for a touchback. Because of its pressured approach, ECU recorded a total of 11 tackles for loss and seven sacks.
Yet, the defensive unit did not recover any fumbles and surrendered 16-of-27 third down conversions throughout the scrimmage.
"The defense played well on first and second downs, but struggled on third down plays," Holtz explained. "On the other hand, I was very pleased with the hitting out there. The kids are excited anytime you can go live and it was great to watch."
The Pirates will complete their spring drills next week, working Monday and Wednesday afternoon before playing the annual Purple-Gold Game Saturday beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
"We need to stay healthy and get as many reps as we can heading into the spring game," Holtz concluded. "If we can do that, we will have had a successful spring."
SCRIMMAGE STATISTICS
Rushing: Edwin Burke (6-97, 1 TD), Chris Johnson (9-33, 2 TD), Robert Tillman (4-29), Kort Shankweiler (9-17), Cam Burley (5-16), Davon Drew (10-8), Jason Pender (1-5), Brian Howard (1-<-1>), Michael Hickman (1-<-2>), Will Bland (2-<-3>). Totals ?? 48-199 (4.1 ypr), 3 TD.
Passing: Davon Drew (32-21-1, 232 yards, 1 TD), Kort Shankweiler (25-12-1, 146 yards, 1 TD). Totals ?? 57-33-2, 378 yards, 2 TD.
Receiving: Aundrae Allison (7-97), Robert Tillman (8-69, 1 TD), Edwin Burke (2-41, 1 TD), Juwon Crowell (3-38), Chris Johnson (2-28), Phillip Henry (4-27), Brian Howard (2-24), Will Bland (2-23), Zulu Nwanko (1-17), Kevin Roach (2-14). Totals ?? 33-378, 2 TD.
Tackles: Jarrett Wiggins (7, TFL), Jamar Flournoy (7, TFL, INT), Erode Jean (5, INT), Richard Koonce (5), Stacy Walls (5), Pierre Parker (4), Kasey Ross (4, TFL), Demetrius Hodges (4), Wendell Chavis (4, sack), Shauntae Hunt (2, 2 sacks), Dontre Brown (2), Travis Williams (2), Zach Baker (2), Durwin Lamb (1), Michael MacDonagh (sack), Lorenza Pickett (1, 2 sacks), Fred Hicks (1, TFL), Zach Slate (1), Herman Best (1), Kyle Chase (1), Mike Horner (1), Craig Harper (sack)
Total Offense: 105-577 (5.5 ypp); First Downs: 29; Third Down Conversions: 16/27; Fumbles/Lost: 2/0; Penalties: 7 (3 offense, 4 defense)
