East Carolina becomes bowl eligible with win over Alabama-Birmingham
The East Carolina Pirates outlasted the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) Blazers, 54-42 and have become bowl eligible for the games during December.
Game highlights
UAB struck first blood at 6:09 of the first quarter with a four yard touchdown pass from Blazers quarterback Bryan Ellis to tight end Jeffery Anderson. East Carolina tied the game up with two minutes left in quarter on a Dominique Davis five yard
pass to wide receiver Lance Lewis.
The Blazers struck first again in the second quarter at 13:09. Ellis threw another four yard touchdown pass, this time it was to wide receiver Patrick Hearn. The Pirates responded with a 52-yard field goal
from kicker Michael Barbour with 10:43 left on the clock. Ellis then drove the Blazers downfield and threw a 22 yard pass to Pat Shed who made it to pay dirt and gave UAB a 21-10 lead with just over five minutes left to play in the half.
The lead was short lived, however, as the Pirates stole whatever momentum was with the Blazers on a Davis 29-yard pass to wide out Andrew Bodenheimer. With 46 seconds left on the clock, the Pirates scored
another touchdown on a Jonathan Williams nine yard run. This gave East Carolina a 24-21 lead going into the half.
The third quarter started with a bang for UAB as Ellis threw a 58 yard touchdown pass to Roddell Carter, giving the lead back to the Blazers at 48 seconds into the second half. Barbour hit another field
goal for the Pirates, this time from 41 yards; bringing East Carolina within a point. However, the Blazers responded with a touchdown run from Daniel Borne from eight yards out. By the end of the third, the Blazers were on top 35-27.
The Pirates opened the fourth quarter on a ten yard touchdown run from running back Giavanni Ruffin. The Blazers replied with a touchdown of their own at 9:41 on a 13 yard pass from Ellis to Anderson, the
tight end’s second of the game.
One minute and 23 seconds later, the Pirates were in the end zone again on an 11-yard pass from Davis to Michael Bowman. East Carolina kept the momentum on their side for the rest of the game, scoring another
touchdown at 5:48 to take the lead, and then another score at 4:12 to put the game out of reach.
Game leading statistics
Blazers pivot Ellis out threw his counterpart by completing 31 of 49 attempts for 418 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.
Davis went 26 of 41 for 331 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions in the winning effort.
Leading rushers were Jonathan Williams from East Carolina, who finished with 14 touches for 82 yards and one touchdown, while Pat Shed from UAB accumulated 81 yards on 18 touches.
Pirates leading receiver was also Williams who had five receptions for 115 yards, while UAB’s leader was Mike Jones who finished with eight receptions and 110 yards gained.
What’s next
East Carolina will be on the road to Houston, Texas to battle Rice University and the Blazers will be back at home looking to end their two game losing streak when Memphis comes to visit.
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