Spring Football Notebook No. 12
April 10, 2010 | Football
April 10, 2010
GREENVILLE, N.C - East Carolina's offensive and defensive units each maintained upper hands in different areas during the Pirates' up-tempo second full intra-squad scrimmage late Saturday morning at the Cliff Moore Practice Facility.
The ECU offense enjoyed a 41-of-70, 445-yard and four touchdown passing performance from quarterbacks Brad Wornick, Rio Johnson and Josh Jordan, while the defense forced three turnovers, recorded four sacks and surrendered just one rushing yard during the 100-play contest.
Wornick, a sophomore who completed 12-of-25 passes for a game-high 219 yards, found Dwayne Harris and Andrew Bodenheimer on 16 and seven-yard scoring tosses, respectively. While he led the Pirates to scores in two of his first three possessions, Johnson and Jordan both rallied from slow starts to account for a combined three touchdowns and a field goal on their final four drives.
Defensively, East Carolina used interceptions by junior Derek Blacknall and sophomore Rahkeem Morgan, and an 18-yard fumble return by senior Josh Smith to help limit the offensive production to just 10 points during the first 13 possessions. Linebacker Matt Thompson and linemen Jimmy Booth, Kemory Mann and Diavalo Simpson all tallied sacks that amounted to a loss of 26 yards.
"One thing I was really focused on today was tempo," head coach Ruffin McNeill said. "I also asked the guys to really key on fundamentals at each of their positions as well as execution. I want our players to do their own jobs and not worry about someone else's job. I thought we did a good job today at all of those things."
Johnson finished the contest completing 15-of-21 passes for 114 yards and connected with sophomore receiver Dayon Arrington on a three-yard scoring strike. The redshirt freshman, who at one point enjoyed a run of nine-straight completions, helped the Pirates to scores on three consecutive series which included Alex Owah's one-yard run and Ben Ryan's 33-yard field goal.
Jordan turned in a 14-of-24, 112-yard performance, but was picked off twice before closing the action with an 18-yard touchdown throw to senior Javon Brumsey on his sixth and final possession.
"(Offensive coordinator) Lincoln (Riley) has very high expectations for this offense and I am pleased with how it is progressing," McNeill added. "I mentioned to him today that when we put this offense in 10 years ago and looking at where it is today, it has come such a long way and we are far ahead of that pace. Our guys have picked it up nicely in just 12 days of practice. The key is now to see how everything plays out in the summer and into fall camp. The execution is definitely there, though."
Bodenheimer, a sophomore who opened the scrimmage with a 58-yard reception from Wornick, topped all receivers with 90 yards on five catches. Redshirt freshman converted tight end Justin Jones picked up 86 yards on five grabs, which included a 44-yarder from Wornick on a third down play during the latter stages of the contest. Arrington added 78 yards on a game-high seven receptions and Harris contributed 52 yards on five catches.
Redshirt freshman Michael Dobson rushed for a game-high 14 yards on six attempts to try and help a ground attack that was held in check by a total of nine tackles for lost yardage.
Blacknall, senior linebacker Melvin Patterson and junior linebacker Steve Spence were credited with five stops each, while redshirt freshman Matt Milner led all linemen with four stops - including one in the offensive backfield.
The Pirates will complete their spring drills next week, working Monday and Wednesday afternoon before playing the annual Purple-Gold Game Saturday beginning at 2:00 p.m. at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
"I am excited about Saturday's game," McNeill said. "It will be fun to watch the players run around in front of a crowd. It will be different than past years since we can only utilize one end of the stadium (because of construction), but I'm looking forward to watching the progress that we make this last week of spring ball."
STATISTICS
RUSHING: Michael Dobson (6-14), Jonathan Williams (2-5), Alex Owah (7-5, 1 TD), Dwayne Harris (1-3), Josh Jordan (2-<-2>), Brad Wornick (2-<-5>), Rio Johnson (3-<-19>). Totals -- 23-1 (0.1 ypr), 1 TD.
PASSING: Brad Wornick (25-12-0, 219 yards, 2 TD), Rio Johnson (21-15-0, 114 yards, 1 TD), Josh Jordan (24-14-2, 112 yards, 1 TD). Totals -- 70-41-2, 445 yards, 4 TD (58.6%).
RECEIVING: Andrew Bodenheimer (5-90, 1 TD), Justin Jones (5-86), Dayon Arrington (7-78, 1 TD), Dwayne Harris (5-52, 1 TD), Javon Brumsey (4-36, 1 TD), Joe Womack (2-33), Kevin Gidrey (2-26), Reese Wiggins (2-16), Gray Mazzone (2-12), Jonathan Williams (2-11), T.J. Terrell (1-3), Michael Dobson (2-2), Alex Owah (2-0). Totals -- 41-445, 4 TD
TACKLES: Derek Blacknall 5 (INT/no return), Melvin Patterson 5, Steve Spence 5, Matt Milner 4 (TFL), Travis Simmons 4, Bill Wallace 4, Jimmy Booth 3 (sack/-12 yards), Emanuel Davis 3 (TFL), Maurice Falls 3, Jacobi Jenkins 3, Dustin Lineback 3, Leonard Paulk 3 (PB), Wes Pittman 3, Marke Powell 3, Matt Thompson 3 (sack/-4 yards, PB), Kyle Tudor 3 (TFL), Antonio Allison 2 (TFL), Bradley Jacobs 2, Kemory Mann 2 (sack/-7 yards), Rahkeem Morgan 2 (TFL, INT/no return), Diavalo Simpson 2 (sack/-5 yards), Justin Venable 2, Derrell Johnson 1, Maurice Mercer 1, Josh Smith 1 (FR/18 yards)
TOTAL OFFENSE/TOTAL DEFENSE: 93-446 (4.8 ypp)
FUMBLES/LOST: 2/1
FUMBLE RETURNS: 1/18 (18/Josh Smith)
INTERCEPTIONS/RETURN YARDAGE: 2/0 (0/Derek Blacknall, 0/Rahkeem Morgan)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 9-19 (47.4%) - Johnson (3-6), Jordan (3-6), Wornick (3-7)
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS (when attempted): 2-3 (66.7%) - Johnson (1-1), Wornick (1-2)
PENALTIES: 10 (5/OFFENSE - 2 holding, 2 false starts, 1 illegal formation; 5/DEFENSE - 4 pass interference, 1 offside)
QUARTERBACK FIRST DOWN/SCORING CHART (DRIVES)
Rio Johnson - 9 first downs, 2 TD (downs, downs, downs, TD, TD, FG)
Josh Jordan - 7 first downs, 1 TD (downs, interception, downs, interception, downs, TD)
Brad Wornick - 9 first downs, 2 TD/1 FG (downs, TD, FG, downs, fumble, TD)
SCORING:
TDs - 5
Dwayne Harris 16-yard pass from Brad Wornick
Alex Owah 1-yard run
Andrew Bodenheimer 7-yard pass from Brad Wornick
Dayon Arrington 3-yard pass from Rio Johnson
Javon Brumsey 18-yard pass from Josh Jordan
FGs - 2-2
Matt Millisor (29-yarder)
Ben Ryan (33-yarder)
PATs - 3-3
Ben Ryan (2-2)
Matt Millisor (1-1)
EAST CAROLINA'S 2010 SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Next Workout: Monday, April 12 (3:15 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.)
Remaining Workouts: April 14 and April 17 (Purple-Gold Game, 2:00 p.m.)
Remaining General Public/Open Practice Date: April 14
