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Pirates score 20 unanswered to top Bobcats 37-20

Ohio rallies from early deficit but can't hold on late


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – East Carolina scored the final 21 points to down Ohio, 37-20, in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl on Monday at Tropicana Field.

After falling behind 14-0, Ohio (7-6( rallied to take a 20-17 lead on a Josiah Yazdani field goal with 13:34 remaining, but the high-powered East Carolina offense finally broke through with three straight touchdowns in the final 10 minutes.

Vintavius Cooper, the bowl’s MVP, scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 31-yard run with 9:45 remaining and finished with 25 carries for 198 yards. Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year Shane Carden completed 29 of 45 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown and also caught a touchdown pass.

Donte Foster was Ohio’s MVP and paced the Bobcats with 160 yards on six catches. Tyler Tettleton was 21 of 40 for 228 yards and a touchdown but was picked off three times, including twice in the fourth quarter. Beau Blankenship had 21 carries for 66 yards.

Ohio had a 17-play, 60-yard drive to the East Carolina 9-yard line, but it stalled there and the Bobcats settled for a 29-yard Yazdani field goal, tying the game at 17 with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter.

After East Carolina’s Warren Harvey missed a 29-yard field goal, a 39-yard completion to Foster and a 23-yard strike to Landon Smith helped move Ohio up the field again, but Tettleton was incomplete on a third-and-2 pass from the East Carolina 11, meaning the Bobcats had to settle for a field goal again.

Yazdani came through again with an onside kick that was popped up in the air near the sideline, allowing Ohio to catch the ball with ease to take possession again from its own 48. But once more, the drive stalled and this time Yazdani missed from 45 yards, the only time he failed to convert this season.

East Carolina never faced a third down on its next drive, going back on top on Cooper’s touchdown run. After forcing a three-and-out to gain a short field, the Pirates added to their lead on a wide receiver pass by Cam Worth to Carden, who went above the defense for a 14-yard score with 7:29 to go.

The Bobcats lost 6 yards before Tettleton was intercepted on third-and-16 by Damon Magazu. Ohio’s defense got a stop before Tettleton was forced to fire into coverage on another third down, this time getting picked off by Brandon Williams. Cooper capped off his big game with a 22-yard rushing touchdown.

Cooper’s 34-yard run set up the game’s first touchdown, a 5-yard pass from Carden to Worthy at the 10:45 mark in the first quarter.

Ohio’s defense got to stops of East Carolina on fourth-down plays to stay in the game early. Thad Ingol made the tackle for no gain on a fourth-and-2 play from the Ohio 15-yard line and Jovon Johnson dropped Cooper for a loss of 2 yards on fourth-and-2 from the 12.

In between, the Pirates managed to go ahead 14-0 on a 2-yard Breon Allen touchdown run, but they also had a punt from inside the Ohio 40-yard line as Ohio’s defense gave up yards but not always points.

Daz’mond Patterson helped the Bobcats get on the board with a 26-yard catch that set up his 17-yard reception for a touchdown. It took only one play for Ohio’s second touchdown when East Carolina was fooled with a play-action pass with Derrius Vick at quarterback. He completed an 80-yard strike to Foster to knot the game at 14 and finished 3 of 3 for 100 yards.

East Carolina took a 17-14 lead to the locker room after a Harvey 41-yard field goal with 1:01 remaining in the half.

The Pirates finished with 568 yards of offense, including 281 yards rushing on 41 attempts. The Bobcats had 435 yards with 328 of those coming through the air.

The loss ended Ohio’s two-game winning streak in bowl games, in which Ohio has appeared five times in a row. The Bobcats are now 2-6 all-time in bowl games.

Tettleton finished his career as Ohio’s all-time leader in passing yards with 9,125 and touchdowns with 67. Foster became the second Bobcat ever, following LaVon Brazil, to finish with 1,000 receiving yards, tallying 1,018 on the year.

Defensively, Nathan Carpenter and Keith Moore tied for the team lead with seven tackles apiece. Freshman Tarell Basham had a sack to give him 7.5 on the season.

Matt Green, who was replaced by Yazdani as the team’s kicker early in the year, filled in at punter and averaged 42.5 yards on six attempts.








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