ECU holds first practice of Military Bowl weekend in Washington D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WITN) - “Military Bowl weekend for ECU football they had practice Friday morning at a local high school in Washington DC, as they gear up to face Boston College in the Military Bowl on Monday afternoon.

The players have been eagerly awaiting that big day and it felt good to get back to practice.

“We came out with a lot of energy,” say ECU quarterback Holton Ahlers, “It was kind of weird practicing somewhere else, especially a high school field with different hashes and stuff, but we had a good day a lot of energy and we practiced well.”

“We practiced well. We are getting ready for the ball game or whatever and we out here butting heads,” says ECU linebacker Bruce Bivens, “Iron sharpens Iron, so we are just doing what we gotta do to win this bowl game.”

ECU has stressed all season long how important practices, and good practices, are to how they play on game day.

Having a good first practice is a good sign.

“We’ve got to clean some stuff up but we still got a couple days left,” says ECU head coach Mike Houston, “I was really really pleased. You never know you get to a remote location and it’s a little bit out of the comfort zone. I’ve seen teams that don’t practice as well in that situation but I thought they came out here with some intent. They did a really good job.”

It will almost be one month to the day for the Pirates between the end of the regular season and they’re and their bowl game.

“Just tidy some things up just get everything you know we only got a couple practices left in the year,” says Ahlers, “You know get the guys ready to roll and I think Monday will be a month since we last played so just correcting some things getting ready for the game. Healing up our bodies when we can using the time that we have off to rest up and get ready for the game.”

“Game day will be here it will be here quicker than we think and the kids are excited. They are excited to be here,” says Houston, “This has been a huge goal of the program ever since I took over, and the kids have worked very, very hard to get us here. We are excited to play on Monday, tough matchup with a good Boston College team but I think we’re proven we are a pretty good team also so should be a great game.”

We will have more on the Pirates throughout the weekend for you on WITN and social media.

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