Flames Defeat ECU Pirates 35-24

The Liberty University Flames Football team opened its season with four straight wins after defeating the East Carolina Pirates 35-24. The Flames claimed victory after fighting through a 17-0 deficit and the fatigue of a four-hour rain delay.

The game opened with back-to-back three-and-out drives from the Flames and the Pirates, but the slow start came to a complete halt when thunderclouds rolled over Liberty’s campus, forcing game officials to put the game on pause until a break in lightning strikes. That break didn’t come until the game resumed at 10:45 p.m.

“Yeah, it was awesome. I hope I don’t give (the fans) a curfew violation,” Flames Head Coach Jamey Chadwell said during his 2 a.m. press conference. “When you’ve never experienced stuff like that before, man, it’s special to me every time. I’m amazed by it every time, just how much they care. No matter what, they stay.”

After the game resumed, the Pirates capitalized on some critical Flames penalties and turnovers to take a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter, and the momentum was in the Pirate’s favor. The Flames and junior quarterback Kaidon Salter marched back onto the field to score their first points of the contest, but they marched right back off the field after Salter’s pass was intercepted by the Pirates, whose offense would begin their drive just 7 yards from pay dirt.

The Flames’ defense bailed out its offense, however, forcing a scoreless drive from the Pirates after ECU’s field goal attempt went wide right.

“I think the biggest point of the game that changed (the momentum) is we were not doing anything offensively. We threw the interception, and then they get the ball down there inside the 10; we held them to a field goal,” Chadwell said.

After the missed field goal, the Flames gathered themselves, worked their way down the field and scored their first points of the evening. The score came on a touchdown catch by junior wide receiver Elijah Canion after Salter dropped the ball into his arms with a soft touch to put the Flames on the board.

With the halftime break in the rearview, the Flames’ offense took the field down 17-7. The resulting campaign took up five minutes and 44 seconds of playtime and resulted in the Flames’ second touchdown of the evening. This time, the touchdown was corralled by junior wide receiver Reese Smith, who leapt out of the rafters to pull in the jump ball pass from Salter.

On the Flames’ following offensive possession, Smith claimed his second touchdown of the night, and his second as a Flame since he joined the team two years ago.

ECU and the Flames both scored a touchdown on the following two drives, the second of which was another touchdown catch by Smith, giving him three in the game. The Flames led 28-24 as the Pirates took over with 8:10 left to play in the fourth quarter and with a four-point deficit. ECU drove its way to the Flames’ 19-yard line, but the drive ended abruptly as Flames junior defensive tackle Chris Boti forced the ball out of the arm of the Pirates’ running back for a fumble.

The Liberty offense took over with 6:05 remaining in the fourth quarter, and they slammed the proverbial door shut on the Pirates with a rushing touchdown by Flames senior running back Quinton Cooley with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Prior to the game against ECU, Cooley was listed as day-to-day by Chadwell and his staff, but he played a full workload against the Pirates.

The Pirates tried to bring the game into a winnable range, but ECU’s junior quarterback Jake Garcia sealed his team’s defeat after throwing an interception to Flames sophomore cornerback Dexter Ricks Jr., his second pick in as many games. 

The standout performance for the Flames came the way of Smith, who ended the game with six receptions for 80 yards and three touchdowns. This season marks Smith’s first time on the field with the Flames since his transfer to Liberty Mountain after three seasons at West Virginia University. He sat out the entirety of the 2023-24 season due to an injury.

“First off, all glory to God,” Smith said. “Like, being patient is one of the words I live by. This is the true definition of it.”

The Flames emerged from their late-night contest with a perfect 4-0 record, and they will work to extend that winning streak with a victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers Saturday, Sept. 28 at 3:30 p.m.

Palsgrove is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on X.