By Staff
ECU Sports Information 
GREENVILLE — After two non-contact orientation sessions, first-year head coach Ruffin McNeill and the East Carolina Pirates opened their spring practice schedule in earnest Friday by working in full pads for two-and-a-half hours at the Cliff Moore Practice Complex.
 McNeill guided ECU’s first full-pad practice in cool and windy conditions after pair of introductory workouts in shorts and helmets Monday and Wednesday. The contact session was the first of 12 which will be conducted in full gear, including a pair of scrimmages and the Purple-Gold Spring Game April 17.
 “I liked the competitive spirit and effort level offensively, defensively and on special teams today,” McNeill said. “The first day in pads is totally different, but I like the way we started. The thing you can emphasize in pads are the fundamentals. For the offense that’s blocking, for the defense that’s tackling and for the special teams it’s a combination of both.”
 Despite the addition of equipment, McNeill and his staff spent the majority of the session keying on fundamentals while continuing the installation process of the Pirates’ new offensive and defensive schemes. Included in the offensive workout was a 12-minute period devoted to blitz pickups and one-on-one matchups between receivers and defensive backs before ECU closed practice with pass skeleton drills and team-on-team work for the last final 45 minutes.
 During the 25-minute team session, which keyed on down-and-distance situations, sophomore Brad Wornick completed 4-of-5 passes for 68 yards to highlight quarterbacking play. Redshirt freshman Rio Johnson hit on 3-of-6 attempts for 23 yrds, which included an 11-yard touchdown strike to fellow freshman Justin Jones, while sophomore Josh Jordan was 4-of-8 for 17 yards. On the other hand, the Pirate defense recorded five sacks during the 31-play exercise.
 “Defensively, we did a really good job during the team period,” McNeill added. “The offense kept plugging way and ended up doing some special things, too. There’s some room for work, but that’s what spring ball is for.”
 The Pirates will close out their first week of work with a late morning practice Saturday before opening their second week of action Monday and start preparations for ECU’s first full intra-squad scrimmage of the spring scheduled for Saturday, April 2 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.