Pirates have work to do

By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
GREENVILLE — The East Carolina Pirates will have one final tune-up on Friday before the season opener Sept. 1 at Virginia Tech.
Between now and then, ECU head coach Skip Holtz said his team still has plenty of work to do. However, he did see some positive plays during the team’s second scrimmage on a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.“I thought there were a lot of positive things on both sides of the ball,” Holtz said. “As a football team, what we have to do is take this film, evaluate it and put the pieces of the puzzle together to make sure that we’re ready to play.“I was really pleased with the hitting and the way they ran around. I think the attitude of this football team is excellent. I think they’re working extremely hard, but we still have a long way to go before we’re ready to play a game.”Holtz, one of 15 coaches selected for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year, wore a wireless microphone and was filmed by Intersport during the scrimmage. Likely caught on tape are some encouraging words and some harsh words for his players.“We have a lot of young players, inexperienced players,” Holtz said. “Any time you deal with youth and inexperience, you deal with a hit-or-miss mentality. One punt goes 65 yards with unbelievable hang time and the next one … goes off the side of his foot for eight yards.“I just want to know what to expect when the ball is snapped. I would much rather have 35 yards every time and know exactly what we’re going to get, but that’s why we have to keep practicing.”Quarterback Rob Kass looked sharp at times for the Pirates. Some fans got a scare when Kass got up slowly off the ground after taking a hard hit while completing a pass. He grimaced while moving his left (non-throwing) shoulder as he was being attended to by trainers.Kass, who completed 14-of-22 passes for 123 yards, shook it off and returned to the field a short time later.“I think we performed really well,” said Kass, who saw Van Eskridge return an interception 48 yards for a touchdown. “Getting out here and going offense against defense was a great opportunity.“We still have a steep hill to go. Virginia Tech is a great team and we have to prepare every week like we’re going against a team like Virginia Tech or a team like West Virginia. It’s a great opportunity for the first game of the year to go against a team like Virginia Tech. We feel like we’re up for the challenge.”Back-up Brett Clay hit 6-of-15 passes for 107 yards. J.R. Kraemer hauled in a 58-yard strike from Clay. Dwayne Harris led all receivers with his four catches, good for 31 yards.Cliff Perryman led the defense with eight tackles. C.J. Wilson, Marcus Hands and Lorenzo Osborne had sacks, while Jeremy Chambliss and Travis Williams had interceptions.Kass led the team down the field and running back Chris Johnson capped it off with a one-yard touchdown plunge. Johnson, who ran for 40 yards on nine carries, is competing with the likes of Dominique Lindsay (19 yards on five carries), Jonathan Williams (34 yards on six carries) and Norman Whitney (23 yards on six carries) for work.“I thought we had a good day today,” Johnson said. “We ran the ball well, me and Dominique Lindsay. We caught some balls out of the backfield. I thought we executed today.“We’re trying to put this team on our back and make us winners. We’re trying to take a little pressure off Kass because it’s his first year. We’re just trying to put it on our backs and run with it.”Holtz said he likes the enthusiasm his players are showing.“I think there’s an unbelievable amount of excitement with these guys but, at the same time, I think they understand the serious of what we’re going up against and how far we have to go in order to go to compete at this level,” Holtz said. “We’re going to play some really good football teams, especially the one at the beginning of the year.”The Pirates will hold their final scrimmage Friday at 4:30 p.m. in preparation for the Sept. 1 season-opener at Virginia Tech.“Friday will be our dress rehearsal for Virginia Tech,” Holtz said. “It will be more like a game. We’ll put our (first-string) on one side and everybody else on the other sideline. We have to start getting used to substitutions. We’ll go through the whole pre-game warm up and pre-game routine.”Following Saturday’s scrimmage, the Pirates and their fans had a chance to mingle.“The fans have been absolutely phenomenal the way they’ve supported this program,” Holtz said. “With the excitement and the enthusiasm, I can’t say, thank you’ enough. That’s what this Meet the Pirates is all about. This is an opportunity for a lot of the Pirate Nation to meet a lot of the players but, at the same time, it’s an opportunity for us to get out there and intermix with the fans.”