Hardy, Carden spark East Carolina in 52-7 rout of NC Central
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Justin Hardy caught two of Shane Carden's three touchdown passes and threw one of his own on a trick play, helping East Carolina pull away from North Carolina Central 52-7 in the season opener for both teams Saturday night.
The Pirates trailed 7-3 early, but surged ahead when Hardy took a reverse and threw a 41-yard touchdown strike to Isaiah Jones. Breon Allen added a 5-yard rushing score before Carden and Hardy connected twice to make it 31-7 at half.
Carden found Trevon Brown for a 17-yard touchdown while Anthony Scott and Kurt Benkert each added rushing touchdowns to fuel the rout in the second half.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Carden finished 26 of 37 with 283 yards for East Carolina and Jones had 10 receptions for 150 yards.
The Eagles' lone touchdown came on a 31-yard fumble recovery by C.J. Moore to open the scoring.