GREENVILLE, N.C. — The Marshall Thundering Herd erupted during the fourth quarter — with 21 points in a five minute span — to beat the East Carolina Pirates 31-13 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in a wild, rain-soaked evening on Saturday.
The Herd are now 2-0 on the season and earned its first ever win against the Pirates in Greenville.
"This game means a lot to a lot of people connected to both these universities," Marshall head coach Charles Huff said. "We talked to the team before the game. The way you honor someone is how you do something. I think they played with the right mentality. We still have a lot of things to clean up."
Marshall's big fourth quarter came after East Carolina grabbed its first lead of the game with 6:04 left in the third quarter following a 30-yard field goal by Andrew Conrad that came after a near two-hour weather delay at halftime.
With the Herd trailing 13-10 entering the final period, East Carolina took possession at the Marshall 44 and looking to add to its lead.
However, the Pirates would back themselves up with several penalties and the Herd defense would force the a punt to get the ball back.
Marshall reached into its bag of trick plays on first down, as Chuck Montgomery would hit Caleb McMillan for a 75-yard touchdown to put the Herd ahead for good.
From that point on, running back Rasheen Ali took over, bouncing outside and out-racing the East Carolina defense for a 56-yard burst tho make the score 24-13 with 7:16 remaining in the game.
Ali's score was set up after Cam Fancher connected with Jayden Harrison on a 29-yard pass on 3rd-and-16 that extended the Herd's drive.
Marshall's defense would shut down any hopes of a comeback, as cornerback Micah Abraham stepped in front of a Mason Garcia pass, giving the Herd possession in ECU territory.
Ali and the Herd capitalized the opportunity, scoring on a 14-yard run with 6:13 left to set the final score.
Ali finished the game with 85 yards and three touchdowns.
Abraham would get his second interception off of Garcia to put the game away. The interception also vaulted him into the top-10 in Marshall history.
As both teams got ready to come out for the second half, a lightning delay forced both teams back into the locker room. In all, the weather delay took 1 hour, 41 minutes before play resumed at 7:32 p.m.
Fancher finished the evening 15 of 28 for 178 yards in the win. Eli Neal and J.J. Roberts led the Herd with seven tackles each.
Marshall 0 10 0 21 = 31
East Carolina 0 10 3 0 = 13
Second Quarter
MARSH — Rasheen Ali 1 run (Kameron Lake kick), 11:32.
MARSH — Kameron Lake 20 field goal, 6:03.
ECU — Andrew Conrad 39 field goal, 3:53.
ECU — Shane Calhoun 2 pass from Mason Garcia (Andrew Conrad kick), 2:22.
Third Quarter
ECU — Andrew Conrad 30 field goal, 6:04.
Fourth Quarter
MARSH — Caleb McMillan 75 pass from Charles Montgomery (Kameron Lake kick), 11:07.
MARSH — Rasheen Ali 56 run (Kameron Lake kick), 7:16.
MARSH — Rasheen Ali 14 run (Kameron Lake kick), 6:13.
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MARSH ECU
First downs 22 13
Rushes-yards 38-131 38-146
Passing yards 261 123
Total yards 392 269
Cmp-Att-Int 17-30-0 13-31-2
Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 4-39 11-112
Punts-average 4-36.5 5-40.4
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Individual Leaders
RUSHING–Marshall: Rasheen Ali 18-85 3TD, Cam Fancher 15-30, Ethan Payne 4-16, Team 1-0; East Carolina: Mason Garcia 16-118, Rahaji Harris 9-29, Marlon Gunn Jr 4-5, Javious Bond 6-4, Alex Finn 3-minus 10.
PASSING–Marshall: Cam Fancher 15-28-0 178, Charles Montgomery 1-1-0 75 TD, TJ McMahon 1-1-0 8; East Carolina: Mason Garcia 10-23-1 TD, Alex Finn 3-8-1 39.
RECEIVING–Marshall: Caleb McMillan 4-85 TD, Rasheen Ali 4-45, Cade Conley 2-35, Jayden Harrison 2-34, Talik Keaton 2-29, Charles Montgomery 1-16, DeMarcus Harris 1-10, Ethan Payne 1-7; East Carolina: Jsi Hatfield 5-47, Jaleyn Johnson 4-37, Rahjai Harris 1-8, Jhari Patterson 1-7, Brock Spalding 1-7, Chase Sowell 1-5, Shane Calhoun 1-2 TD.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–Kameron Lake, Marshall, 33. Andrew Conrad, East Carolina, 45.
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