When East Carolina coach Blake Harrell was unexpectedly thrust into the role after the firing of Mike Houston back in November, a bowl game was the last thing on the minds of many in Greenville. But Harrell and his team quickly turned the season around.

“Shoutout to coach Harrell for believing in the seniors,” running back Rahjai Harris said. “He made it all about us, and that’s what brought the team together.”

Eighty-six yards, one interception and eight ejections later, the field at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium was flooded with a sea of purple and gold as the Pirates celebrated after defeating in-state rival North Carolina State, 26-21, in the Military Bowl.

“These young men could have turned it in and gave up back in October but they didn’t,” Harrell said. “The only day we’re promised is today, and we made the most of it.”

An interception gave East Carolina the ball back with 44 seconds left, needing only to run out the clock. But after a run up the middle by Harris, the fight broke out around the hash marks closer to the ECU sideline.

East Carolina receiver Yannick Smith appeared to swipe a towel off the waist of NC State defensive back Tamarcus Cooley, who then chased Smith toward the sideline and pushed him to the ground. Two other ECU players came to Smith’s defense. As the fight spread, it took roughly a full minute to bring the situation under control — and around eight minutes before the ball could be snapped again for a final kneel-down.

At least one official appeared to have his face bloodied after the fight, and the referee seemed to be reading off a slip of paper when he announced the ejections of eight players.

“I’m embarrassed as a coach,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “I know our players are, too. That is not how people of this program, the players of this program, staff of this program, want anything to do with something like that. To me, it was a terrible response to something that happened to one of our players, and there’s no excuses for it. So I apologize to ECU and their team for the way we responded.”

“Obviously, didn’t like the last little bit of the game,” Harrell said. “No place in sports for that.”

Harris finished with an AAC bowl game-record 221 rushing yards, including the game-winning 86-yard score with just over a minute left. The long run was highlighted by a crippling juke on a Wolfpack defender before he raced down the Pirates’ sideline.

“It’s a move I do every year,” he said with a smile. “I actually did that same move when I tore my ACL a couple of years ago, but the credit really goes to my offensive line for opening the holes.”

Separated by about 80 miles, both schools looked to make themselves at home by establishing dominance at the line of scrimmage with the running game.

The Pirates (8-5, 5-3 American Athletic Conference) jumped out to a lead thanks to Harris and quarterback Katin Houser, as each took turns gashing the Wolfpack defense on the ground.

Not commonly known for his running ability, it was Houser’s 19-yard touchdown that got the scoring started for the Pirates. Harris soon followed suit, leading the offense down the field on a seven-minute, 14-play drive to go up two scores.

Like his coach, Houser was suddenly thrust into the spotlight this season, taking over as starting quarterback and leading a unit that averaged over 38 points per game with the Michigan State transfer at the helm.

“When it’s your time to shine and you get that opportunity, you have to take off with it,” Harris said. “That’s just what he’s done.”

Finding themselves down 13 heading into the fourth, the Wolfpack (6-7, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) relied on their own rushing attack to get themselves back into the game with running back Hollywood Smothers. Smothers ran for 142 yards in his own right before hauling in a 33-yard touchdown pass from quarterback CJ Bailey to take the lead with ten minutes left.

The Wolfpack came into the game as the best fourth-quarter team in the country, outscoring opponents 141-79 this season in the final frame.

“I was proud of the way we fought back and got into the football game,” Doeren said. “We had two opportunities to run the clock out and put the game away and we didn’t, we just didn’t finish.”

With both teams trading turnovers looking for the final blow, the Pirates’ defense — a unit that touted continuity on the defensive line but suffered key injuries in the secondary this season — made the last stand as Dontavius Nash sealed the deal after intercepting a tipped pass from Bailey with 44 seconds left to seal the deal.

“We knew we had to make a play to give our offense the ball back,” senior defensive lineman D’Anta Johnson said. “We needed to step up and make the play and we did.”

More than 23,000 people watched as the in-state rivals fought tooth and nail for the right to dunk their respective coach with a Gatorade cooler of mini bowling pins in reference to title sponsor Go Bowling.

After three Pirates and five Wolfpack players were ejected following the brawl, the stadium was buzzing as the rivalry was officially back to many.

Both teams are headed into the offseason and looking forward to their next matchup — the 2025 season opener in Raleigh, a game Harrell is certainly looking forward to after coming out on top Saturday.

“It’s an hour, 15 minutes up the road, and there’s a couple of other schools that are the same distance,” Harrell said looking directly at a camera. “They want to call around and try and take our players, how about you put us on your schedule.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Timothy Dashiell at tdashiell@baltsun.com and x.com/dashielltimothy.