ECU Player Stealing NC State Towel Leads To Brawl At Military Bowl, Referee Hit In The Face

There was absolutely no need for the shenanigans that broke out near the end of the Military Bowl between NC State and ECU, leading to a referee taking a helmet to the face in the melee. 

Tensions were already boiling on Saturday night at the ‘Go Bowllng Military Bowl’ as the Pirates held a favorable 20-7 lead in the third quarter, which they thought would be enough to hold-off the Wolfpack. 

But, it was NC State that put together a string of touchdowns in the fourth quarter that gave them the 21-20 lead with 9:49 remaining. Unfortunately, the comeback came up short after ECU's Rahjai Harris busted an 86-yard game-winning touchdown with 1:33 remaining in the game. 

Thanks to a situation that could've easily been avoided, the game will be remembered for the brawl that occurred with38 seconds remaining in the game. 

And all of this started because of a stolen towel. As you can see in the video below, an ECU player decided to yank away the towel from an NC State player on his way off the field. This led to a full-blown brawl, with benches clearing. 

Referee Takes A Helmet To The Face During Military Bowl Brawl

But it wasn't just the players who were caught up in the brawl, which continued when an East Carolina player came rushing from behind to shove an NC State player in the back, which led to a referee taking a helmet to the face. 

As you can tell, the official took a hard hit to the eye area, and had to be attended to by medical staff. The game was finished, and East Carolina celebrated the win, with words still being exchanged following the final whistle. 

I would imagine both teams remember this game for at least the next year, because they will open the 2025 season against each other.