The East Carolina football team celebrated its first victory of the season on Saturday after beating Campbell, 56-3, at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
ECU Sports Information has more details below. Videos are from Pirate Radio’s social media and broadcasts.
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Head coach Blake Harrell wanted a quick start in East Carolina’s 2025 home opener. He got that and much more.
The Pirates emphatically established their dominance over FCS opponent Campbell from the outset on a steamy Saturday evening, steamrolling to a 56-3 victory in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
From the opening possession, ECU sliced through the over-matched Camels, beginning an offensive onslaught that produced touchdowns on seven of its first eight possessions. The Pirates led 35-3 by halftime, matching the 35 first-half points scored in the first half against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 7 of last season, and tacked on two more touchdowns in the third period and one final cherry on top from reserves making the most of their chances.
“Our objective tonight was to come out and start fast and obviously get the win, and I thought we did a good job with that,” Harrell said.
Quarterback Katin Houser echoed the need for a quick start, especially after sputtering for more than a quarter in a 24-17 loss at NC State in the opener.
“Last week we didn’t start fast obviously,” Houser said. “That was the game plan going in. We wanted to go and score that first drive. Won the coin toss, elected to receive and then went out and scored that first drive and started fast. That was whole motto going into the week and carried it on through the rest of the game so proud of that.”
A myriad of Pirates pitched in to the party. Here’s just a sampling:
- Three different quarterbacks completed at least one pass …
- Eight different players had at least one carry …
- A whopping 15 different receivers caught at least one pass …
- Seven different players found the end zone …
- Thirty-one players recorded at least one tackle …
Among the reserves, freshman quarterback Chaston Ditta capped the evening with a touchdown pass to sophomore Dillon Lorick, and Tom O’Halloran appeared in his first game at any level, punting three times for a 43.7 average.
“Just the fact that we get all those guys in the ballgame and get those guys involved on both sides of the football is pretty valuable to our team and helps our locker room moving forward,” Harrell said.
But Houser set the tone, orchestrating an efficient offense that piled up 535 total yards, marking the fifth game of 500-plus total yards in Harrell’s eight games as head coach.
Houser amassed 243 passing yards by halftime, surpassing his previous best of 209 yards in the second half of the opener, and finishing with 314 passing yards before giving way to Mike Wright Jr. with 1:01 left in the third quarter. The senior, now 6-3 as a starter at ECU, completed 25 of 35 passes with touchdown tosses to Brock Spalding and Desirrio Riles.
Houser, who now has four career games with at least 300 yards passing, continued his early-season binge of big plays, connecting on six passes of at least 15 yards to boost his total to 17 on the young season.
“Katin is playing with a lot of confidence right now and taking care of the football,” Harrell said. “I think this is the second-straight week we didn’t have a turnover. We talked about the emphasis of that during the offseason.”
Defensively, the Pirates limited Campbell to 151 total yards, recording nine tackles for loss, including two sacks. The Camel spent much of the night with negative rushing yardage before finishing with four yards on 27 attempts.
“They had negative 15 yards in the fourth quarter I believe, and we didn’t want to give them any,” said senior defensive lineman Preston Carr, who had four tackles and recovered a fumble forced by Jasiyah Robinson.
Carr was pleased with the start.
“It was a huge impact,” he said. “That’s one thing we focused on all week, coming out fast, and that’s what we did.”
Houser and the offense hit their stride early. After misfiring on his first pass, he connected on five straight to four different receivers, capped by an 18-yarder for Riles’ third career touchdown. A 25-yard pass to Yannick Smith highlighted the eight-play drive.
Houser converted a pair of third downs – one with his arm and one with his legs – on the Pirates’ second possession, which ended with Montgomery plunging in from the 1 for the first of his two touchdowns.
Brock Spalding hauled in a 24-yard reception to spark that drive then topped that with a 55-yard catch of a Houser heave for a touchdown on the following possession.
ECU failed to cash in a fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff, turning the ball over on downs at the 8, but Kyler Pearson’s 18-yard punt return set Parker Jenkins for a 17-yard run and his first career touchdown.
Marlon Gunn Jr. scored from 4 yards out with 1:22 left in the half for a 35-3 lead.
ECU continued to pour it on in the third quarter scoring on a 2-yard run by Montgomery and a 4-yard run by DeJuan Lacy.
“It’s good to get that many guys in the end zone,” Montgomery said.