Pirates Prep For First Scrimmage At Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
March 22, 2006 | Football
March 22, 2006
GREENVILLE, N.C. - After a rust-shaking performance Monday which followed an 11-day layoff, East Carolina responded with a sharp two-hour workout at the Cliff Moore Practice Complex Wednesday afternoon and finished preparations for its first official intra-squad scrimmage Friday night.
The session was the Pirates' eight practice of the spring period and leaves just seven more workouts to go, including two scrimmages and the annual Purple-Gold Spring Game set for April 8.
"I thought today's practice was another solid effort," Holtz said. "We were a little sharper and got a lot accomplished heading into our first scrimmage. We passed the halfway point and I believe we've made a lot of progress. There has been a lot of individual work done and now we're starting to put the team aspect together."
East Carolina continued to sharpen its team preparation for Friday's contest, working on various sets and schemes with different personnel matchup designations. For the second straight workout, the Pirates carried out many 11-on-11 drills which featured different twists in ECU's rushing and passing attack before ending the session with third-and-eight and third-and-two down situations inside the redzone.
"I think it's natural for us to want to see both units click a little more," Holtz added. "Yet, I was happy to see guys like (tight end) Davon Drew come out and compete like he did. We still have a long way to go but at least we'll get a good look at where we are exactly at after Friday."
Holtz indicated the scrimmage, scripted for approximately 100 plays, would consist of a series of 10-play possessions for each unit and conclude with a set of goal line drills. All levels of the Pirates' current personnel chart is expected to experience action for evaluation or game tape purposes.
After the completion of Friday's scrimmage, which is open only to Pirate Club members in several area chapters as part of a special game-day experience event, ECU will take the weekend off before opening its fourth week of work Monday, March 27.
