GREENVILLE — Josh Hawkins set the tone early for the East Carolina football team, as the senior cornerback returned an interception 100 yards and into the endzone on Tulsa’s opening drive Saturday afternoon at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

The Pirates came out victorious, 30-17, in a 10th-straight homecoming win against the Golden Hurricane. A game that had all the makings of an offensive shootout featured three quarters of shut down defense from ECU and just one offensive touchdown for the Pirates until about one minute left in the game.

“(The opening defensive touchdown) was a huge boost,” said James Summers, who had a rushing touchdown and passing touchdown after coming off the bench in the second quarter. “We were kind of jammed up there and couldn’t really get the run game going, so that touchdown really helped a lot.”

With the Tulsa offense driving and quarterback Dane Evans hitting his targets, the Golden Hurricane was down to the ECU 12-yard line. Threatening to take an early lead, Evans threw to the end zone on the right side, but Hawkins stepped up and made the play of the game.

Hawkins said he recognized the play early and knew Evans would target the receiver coming off the wheel route.

“That was my first pick-six of my college career, so I’m really humbled and blessed by the situation,” said Hawkins, who had struggled in recent weeks. “My guys blocked for me, I read the quarterback well, he threw it and I made a play on it and I’m glad I did.”

From there, the ECU defense seemed more poised. Tulsa punted on eight of its next 10 possessions, the other two drives ending with a fumble and a turnover on downs. Senior linebacker Zeke Bigger, who finished with a game-high 13 tackles, said the early big play gave the defense an added boost for the rest of the game.

Early in the fourth quarter, Tulsa drove the field with methodical movement of the ball. Evans nearly lulled the defense to sleep before hitting receiver Josh Atkinson with a 31-yard pass down the left side to move to the ECU 13-yard line.

Freshman backup quarterback Chad President took his first career touch and set up a one-yard touchdown dive by Zach Langer with a 12-yard run on the previous play.

After a quick Pirates three-and-out, Tulsa made the game a little more interesting with a field goal that made the score 23-10 with over seven minutes left.

However, Tulsa could not get much going on its possessions later in the quarter. On a fourth-and-20 for the Golden Hurricane, Montese Overton came up with a sack to set up the Pirates on Tulsa’s 4-yard line. Summers capitalized to put the game out of reach.

The junior kept the ball for a touchdown over the left side to put ECU on top 30-10 with 1:24 left in the game. Evans connected with Keyarris Garrett for a 47-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left to reach the final score, but the ensuing onside kick sailed out of bounds and dashed any hope for Tulsa.

“They found a way to win,” said ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill. “They hung in there, the defense hung in there and did some good and positive things. I was very proud of the team. Very proud and happy to get the win.”

Junior kicker Davis Plowman was three-for-three on field goals, including a career-long 41-yard field goal. Plowman tries keeps a relaxed attitude about his role on the team, and it seems to be paying off.

“I just go out and do my job whenever they ask me to,” said Plowman. “I don’t really think about it. It’s just kind of one kick at a time.”