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The Battle for the Victory Barrel goes the way of the series underdog, the ECU Pirates

Eve Hansen, The Greenville News Published 10:22 p.m. ET October 27, 2018

The Victory Barrel, which is given to the winner of the game between in-state foes, NC State and East Carolina, was awarded to Coach Brian Hawkins and his Pirates, after a 34-10 win against the rival Wolfpack.

"I think we all came to play tonight," said Hawkins. "Both teams wanted to bring the Victory Barrel to their trophy case for the year, and I think it was a hard-fought effort between the two. With everything going so poorly this year in the third tier for NC State, and with this series going poorly for them the last couple years, it wasn't surprising to see them put all of their eggs in the basket and fight for the barrel. However, I think the better team came out as victors tonight, and I'm glad we were able to bring the Victory Barrel back home for the fourth consecutive time."

The Wolfpack were only able to put up 10 points on the board, and the only touchdown for them came after a poor error by Josh Parks, when they were running a speed option play. Parks tossed the ball right into the defender's stomach, and he took back the other way, all the way to the house. Other than that, the offense wasn't able to get much going, as the ECU defense held them to just 82 offensive yards, and 107 yards total.

After a week of rest time, the Pirates were able to have star running back, Corey Crawford, on the field, and he put up a whopping 172 yards and 2 touchdowns, largely due to the 50-yard touchdown run at the end of the game, where Crawford crossed the plain as time expired. Due to his performance, Crawford earned player of the game accolades for the fifth time this season.

The Pirates take a trip to Huntington, West Virginia, to face "friendly rivals," Marshall Thundering Herd for a second straight rivalry game for ECU.

East Carolina Pirates at North Carolina State Wolfpack
Oct 27, 2018 1 2 3 4 F East Carolina (6-2) 7 3 7 17 34 NC State (1-6) 0 10 0 0 10 Top Performers PASS: Josh Parks (ECU) - 9-14, 80 Yards RUSH: Corey Crawford (ECU) - 31 Rushes, 173 Yards, 2 TDs REC: Corey Crawford (ECU) - 4 Receptions, 26 Yards	Team Stats Comparison ECU NCST First Downs 22 3 3rd Down Efficiency 9-14 2-7 4th Down Efficiency 2-3 0-0 Total Yards 487 107 Passing Yards 80 56 Rushing Yards 311 26 Penalties-Penalty Yards 0-0 2-20 Turnovers 1 1 Time of Possession 20:08 7:52
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING ECU NCST 1:08 (ECU) TD: M. Charles, 5 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 7 0 SECOND QUARTER SCORING ECU NCST 4:58 (NCST) FG: D. Sanders, 30 Yd FG 7 3 1:12 (NCST) TD: B. Baker, returned fumble 77 Yds (D. Sanders kick) 7 10 0:35 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 47 Yd FG 10 10 THIRD QUARTER SCORING ECU NCST 1:36 (ECU) TD: M. Charles, 2 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 17 10 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING ECU NCST 5:28 (ECU) FG: B. Manson, 35 Yd FG 20 10 1:51 (ECU) TD: C. Crawford, 1 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 27 10 0:01 (ECU) TD: C. Crawford, 50 Yd run (B. Manson kick) 34 10