Update on East Carolina Spring Football with Saturday scirmmage and 5 tackles Lamar Ivey(Eastern Alamance), 4 tackles Justin Venable(SEG), 2 Tackles Jonathan White(HP Central) and 1 Tackle Rocco Scarfone(Northern)

Courtesy of Tom McClellan East Carolina University SID…..

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Defensive Pressure, High-Percentage Passing Effort Highlight Pirates’ First Scrimmage

EAST CAROLINA SPRING NOTEBOOK NO. 8

GREENVILLE, N.C. – After opening the morning with individual and special teams work
in a practice-structured
setting at the Cliff Moore Complex Saturday, East Carolina moved to Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium for its first intra-squad scrimmage of the spring that was highlighted by a
sack-producing defensive unit and a high-percentage passing effort.

The controlled contest, which included game officials and was played in periodic
light showers with temperatures in the low-60s, consisted of eight possessions
involving all
levels of ECU’s depth chart.

“We were a little sluggish starting out today in the stadium,” head coach Ruffin
McNeill said. “I think some of that was due to the time we put in at the practice
facility
before heading over here, but I like the way we got after it. I continued to stress
tempo on offense, having great fundamentals and pad leverage. We will continue to
watch film and correct things as necessary.”

Four Pirate quarterbacks – senior Brad Wornick, junior Rio Johnson, sophomore Shane
Carden and redshirt freshman Cody Keith – each took turns guiding ECU’s offense
during
the abbreviated 54-play scrimmage and combined on a 25-of-33, 189-yard passing
performance that netted one score.

Keith topped all passers with a 10-of-11, 104-yard outing that included the game’s
only touchdown – a 27-yard scoring toss to junior inside receiver Derrick Harris on
his
first possession. Keith also connected with junior inside receiver Justin Jones for
a 23-yarder, thus owning the only two pass completions of 20 yards or more during
the game.

While the Pirate defense did not force a turnover, it did apply a high-pressure pass
rush that netted six sacks and limited the offense to just a 2-of-11 success rate on
third
down. Junior defensive end Justin Dixon and junior outside linebacker Derrell
Johnson each recorded a pair of quarterbacks drops that resulted in losses of 11
and 10 yards, respectively.

Sophomore nose tackle Terry Williams topped all tacklers with six, while sophomore
safety Lamar Ivey(Eastern Alamance) responded with five and senior safety Justin Venable(Southeast Guilford) chipped in
four.

Offensively, Harris (3-45), Jones (2-41) and senior outside receiver Dayon Arrington
(3-19) led a pass-catching corps that averaged 7.6 yards per reception. On the
ground,
redshirt freshman Chris Hairston picked up 27 yards on four carries and junior
Michael Dobson added 15 on three attempts, trying to spark a group that managed
less than two yards per rush during the morning.

In all, the scrimmage featured eight ball carriers and 13 receivers who averaged a
combined 4.1 yards per play. East Carolina was whistled for five penalties, just one
on
the defensive side of the ball.

The Pirates open their third week of spring work Monday and will follow with
practices Wednesday and Friday before conducting their second scrimmage next
Saturday.

NOTES: Freshman IR Donte Sumpter (right knee), freshman OLB Montese Overton
(illness), sophomore
DE Chrishon Rose (ankle) and junior RB Hunter Furr (concussion) all sat out the
scrimmage.

SPRING NO. 1 SCRIMMAGE STATS
RUSHING: Chris Hairston (4-27), Michael Dobson (3-15), Reggie Bullock (2-7),
Torrance Hunt (4-6),
John Barnes-Smith (1-1), Rio Johnson (1-<-5>), Shane Carden (4-<-7>), Brad Wornick
(2-<-11>). Totals –– 21-33 (1.6 ypr), 0 TD.

PASSING: Cody Keith (11-10-0, 104 yards, 1 TD), Rio Johnson (9-6-0, 38 yards), Brad
Wornick
(8-6-0, 26 yards), Shane Carden (5-3-0, 21 yards). Totals –– 33-25-0, 189 yards, 1
TD (75.8%).

RECEIVING: Derrick Harris (3-45, 1 TD), Justin Jones (2-41), Dayon Arrington (3-19),
Gray Mazzone
(2-19), Chris Hairston (4-18), Andrew Bodenheimer (2-11), Antonio Cannon (2-10),
Justin Hardy (1-9), Brandon Weymann (1-5), Cedric Thompson (1-5), Reese Wiggins
(1-3), Reggie Bullock (2-2), Torrance Hunt (1-2). Totals –– 25-189, 1 TD

TACKLES: Terry Williams 6, Lamar Ivey 5, Justin Venable 4, Detric Allen 3, Ty Holmes
3 (TFL/-1
yard), Jacobi Jenkins 3, Chris Baker 2 (sack/-8 yards, TFL/-8 yards), Justin Dixon
2 (2 sacks/-11 yards, 2 TFL/-11 yards), Derrell Johnson 2 (2 sacks/-10 yards, 2
TFL/-10 yards), Damon Magazu 2, Kyle Tudor 2 (PB), Jonathan White 2 (sack/-5 yards,
TFL/-5 yards),
Brandon Williams 2, Adonis Armstrong 1, Zeek Bigger 1, Michael Brooks 1, Desi Brown
1, Daniel Drake 1, Robert Huckabee 1, Leonard Paulk 1, Lee Pegues 1, Rocco Scarfone
1, Terrell Stanley 1, Godfrey Thompson 1, Joshua Hawkins (PB)

TOTAL OFFENSE/TOTAL DEFENSE: 54-222 (4.1 ypp)

FUMBLES/LOST: 2/0

INTERCEPTIONS/RETURN YARDAGE: none

THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 2-11 (18.2%) – Keith (1-2), Carden (1-3), Johnson (0-2),
Wornick (0-4)

FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS (when attempted): 2-3 (66.7%) – Keith (1-1), Wornick (1-1),
Johnson
(0-1)

PENALTIES: 5 (4/OFFENSE – 3 holding, 1 delay of game; 1/DEFENSE – 1 holding)

QUARTERBACK FIRST DOWN/SCORING CHART (DRIVES)
Cody Keith – 6 first downs, 1 TD (TD, end of scrimmage)
Shane Carden – 4 first downs, 1 FG (FG, MFG)
Rio Johnson – 3 first downs (downs, downs)
Brad Wornick – 3 first downs (downs, downs, downs)

SCORING:
TD – 1, FG – 1-of-2, PAT 1-of-1
Warren Harvey 43 field goal
Derrick Harris 27 pass from Cody Keith (Matt Millisor PAT)

EAST CAROLINA’S 2012 SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE
Next Workout: Monday, April 2 (3:30-5:50 p.m.)
Remaining Workouts: April 4, April 6, April 7 (scrimmage), April 9, April 11 and
April 14 (Purple-Gold
Game, 2:30 p.m.)