Inside Game Day Saturday, April 20, 2013 By Al Myatt

Units battle but all pull for Noah

By Al Myatt
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Practically everyone among a crowd of 6,294 at East Carolina's spring football game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday would say that it's hard to get a read on a team's potential when you're playing your teammates.

If the offense makes a play, then the defense looks bad and vice-versa. Sometimes the defense recognizes formations and plays faster because of the familiarity developed in the practice and scrimmage settings.

Still, there are elements like effort and execution, which can be evaluated. ECU alumnus Ruffin McNeill, entering his fourth season as head coach, was thankful, first of all, that there were no serious injuries and he credited the manner in which the players "attacked the process" of improvement during 15 spring sessions.

The offense had six penalties, which is six too many for McNeill, and the defense had none, which is the objective on all sides of the ball.

The offense was called for holding three times, two false starts and one personal foul.

"We don't want to hurt ourselves with unnecessary penalties," said the Pirates coach. "That's a key to not beating ourselves."

There was a lot of interest in how the defense would perform under new coordinator Rick Smith. The first unit was not ready to play at the start, Smith said in no uncertain terms. At this point, the rush defense appeared better than the pass defense.

The offense managed a meager average of 1.7 yards per play on the ground in 59 plays but the passing game was more productive. Five sacks helped reduce the numbers for the running game. Sacks were whistled when defenders were in close proximity to the quarterbacks.

Returning starter Shane Carden completed 14 of 22 for 137 yards with a 21-yard score to Lance Ray on the first possession. He had one pass picked off by Chip Thompson but that was the only turnover of the cloudy afternoon.

Cody Keith completed 12 of 20 for 104 yards. Keith drove his unit for a score on a 1-yard run by Cory Hunter, who had 15 carries for a team-high 61 yards.

True freshman Kurt Benkert completed six of 13 attempts for 75 yards, including a 32-yard scoring strike to Antonio Cannon on the penultimate play of the afternoon.

"I was pleased with our leadership," McNeill said. "I thought Shane and the quarterbacks did a good job."

The final play was scripted, a Carden handoff to eight-year-old Noah Roberts of Wilmington, who is like everybody in the program's kid brother.

"Noah's special to us," McNeill said. "He's been part of the team the last two years. Jeff Connors (strength and conditioning director) brought him to us and there was an instant connection."

Roberts is battling a life-threatening illness, but for a few minutes Saturday the Pirates gave him the opportunity to feel like a football hero. He ran all the way to the end zone from about 40 yards out. Both offensive and defensive benches streamed over to celebrate the inspirational moment that marked the end of spring workouts.

"That was a cool experience for him and us," said linebacker Jeremy Grove, who had seven tackles.

Fellow linebacker Kyle Tudor had a scrimmage-high 10 stops. Outside linebacker Gabriel Woullard had seven tackles with one for loss and a sack.

"That was awesome," said Danny Webster, who had eight catches for 93 yards, of Roberts' run. "I wanted to tear up watching that. That's all I can say."

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PAGE UPDATED 04/21/13 07:45 AM.