East Carolina’s Rahjai Harris broke off a dazzling 86-yard touchdown in the final two minutes of a record-setting night, and the Pirates snapped a three-game losing streak to the North Carolina State Wolfpack with a 26-21 win in the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md., on Saturday.
With East Carolina trailing 21-20, Harris zipped around the left end, cut back and outran the Wolfpack secondary at 1:33 to give the Pirates (8-5) their fifth win in six games.
The Pirates’ Dontavius Nash intercepted a deflected pass by quarterback CJ Bailey as the Wolfpack (6-7) attempted a rally past midfield. A short brawl broke out between the teams with 38 seconds left.
Harris, a senior, set his career high and a Military Bowl record with 220 rushing yards on 17 carries.
“Just so proud of Rahjai and the way those guys fought. Those guys have been here for five years,” Pirates coach Blake Harrell said, referring to his seniors. “I don’t know how much we’ll see that in college football anymore.”
Quarterback Katin Houser went 18-of-29 passing for 147 yards and two interceptions. He rushed for 84 yards on 13 attempts with two touchdowns.
Bailey completed 19 of 26 passes for 230 yards with three scores and an interception, while Hollywood Smothers rushed for 139 yards on 15 carries.
Tamarcus Cooley recorded two interceptions for the Wolfpack, who lost for the third time in four games.
Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren wasn’t happy with how his team handled the closing seconds as the Pirates were running out the clock.
“First, congratulations to ECU on the win, they earned it. And I’d also like to apologize for our football team for how that ended. I’m embarrassed as a coach and I know our players are, too.”
On third-and-6 on ECU’s opening series after stopping NC State on a fourth-and-1 at the Pirates’ 24, Houser called his own number and rumbled in untouched from 19 yards to cap a 75-yard drive for a 7-0 lead with 4:43 remaining in the first quarter.
Smothers’ 44-yard run put NC State in position for its first points, but Kanoah Vinesett pulled a 34-yard field goal wide left at 13:34 of the second.
East Carolina kicker Noah Perez answered on the next possession by drilling a 24-yard field goal with 7:17 to go for a 10-0 advantage.
The Wolfpack finally capitalized with their best drive of the half by going 78 yards in 11 plays. Bailey ended it with a pass of 8 yards to Dacari Collins with 1:58 left, but Perez booted a 42-yarder with six seconds left for a 13-7 halftime lead.
In the third, Houser kept the Pirates a perfect 4-for-4 in scoring on their possessions by dashing in from 4 yards at 9:17 for a 20-7 lead while the defense continued to hassle Bailey.
However, Bailey fired two scoring passes early in the fourth quarter, striking from 15 yards to Justin Joly on fourth-and-2, and then using a trick play to hit Smothers for a 33-yard score to take the one-point lead at the 9:49 mark.
–Field Level Media
