The Military Bowl official gets a bloody face after trying to break up the fight late in East Carolina’s win

An official suffered a gash under his eye after a scuffle late in East Carolina’s Military Bowl win over NC State.

The referee was hit in the face by a player’s helmet as members of both teams fought with 38 seconds left. The ruckus started when NC State defensive lineman Tamarcus Cooley pushed ECU WR Yannick Smith. Both benches emptied and things continued from there.

There were so many players involved in the fight that each team was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for each member and the referee had to read the numbers of the ejected players from a list. East Carolina had three players ejected from the game, while NC State had five players ejected for their role in the fight.

The brawl came after ECU took the lead on an 86-yard run by Rahjai Harris with 1:33 left. His touchdown came not long after ECU appeared to return a fumble for a touchdown, but officials said the play was stopped for forward play, although there was no indication it was ended by a whistle.

NC State rallied from a 20-7 deficit in the third quarter to take a 21-20 lead with 9:49 left, but lost its chance to win when CJ Bailey hit Dontavius ​​in ECU territory with 44 seconds left Nash was intercepted.

East Carolina finishes the season at 8-5, having won five of its last six games under head coach Blake Harrell. He was named the team’s permanent coach at the end of the season after becoming interim coach following the firing of Mike Houston following a 3-4 start. NC State finishes the season 6-7.