Defense Shines As Army Wins at Home Over Charlotte

WEST POINT – Army West Point football (3-3, 2-2) won its second consecutive game in front of a sellout crowd (31,172), defeating the Charlotte 49ers (1-5, 0-3), 24-7 on Saturday afternoon from Michie Stadium.

With overcast skies giving way to light rain after halftime, the Army offense was methodical, the defense suffocating, and the Black Knights were decisive winners in front of the Corps of Cadets and sellout home crowd.

Army virtually doubled the 49ers in total yards, outgaining its opponent 354-178, as well as 304-68 on the ground.

Junior quarterback Cale Hellums provided a career-high 143 of those yards on the ground. He also had two rushing touchdowns on 21 total carries. He also added 2-for-4 passing for 50 yards.

The Black Knight defense stood tall on the opening series of the game as Jack Bousum recorded a third-down sack to force a Charlotte punt.

The offense then picked up the early momentum set up by the defense. Making his third start of the season, Hellums broke free for the longest rush of his career — a 51-yarder that set up a first-and-goal at the 1. He punched it in on the next play with a quarterback sneak for the touchdown.

The Black Knights forced a three-and-out on their second defensive series, but running back Hayden Reed fumbled on Army’s ensuing possession, with the 49ers recovering at the Army 36. Facing a Charlotte offense on a short field, the defense pitched a timely response, with safety Casey Larkin making a great open-field tackle on fourth-and-2 from the 15 to force a turnover on downs.

Army’s next drive proved to be a prototypical Black Knight offensive series, taking 10:51 off the clock while marching 85 yards across 17 plays. The Hellums-led offense was 2-for-3 on third downs over the possession and picked a fourth-and-2 from their own 49. One Hellums rush in Charlotte territory was extended by a five-yard pile push from the offensive line to pick up a first down. Running back Carson Smith would finish the drive with a five-yard touchdown rush to make it 14-0 with 3:41 in the half, his first career touchdown.

When Charlotte regained possession, the 49ers converted on fourth down once, but not twice, handing the ball back to Army near midfield after a pass on fourth-and-5 fell incomplete.

With just 1:04 on the clock for its ensuing series, Army entered more comfortable field goal range with a Hellums 10-yard rush on third-and-5, centering the ball with a rush one play later for a 38-yard field goal attempt, which Dawson Jones made to give Army a 17-0 lead at the half.

Through two quarters, Hellums compiled 122 rushing yards, to Charlotte’s just 84 total yards in the first half. Army outgained the 49ers 209-84 in the opening half.

In the third quarter, senior outside linebacker Eric Ford recorded a sack and a tackle for loss by senior defensive lineman Deshontez Gray, forced a Charlotte punt from their own end zone.

Faced with a third-and-9 from their own 47 on the next drive, Hellums completed his longest pass of the day, hitting Noah Short in stride for 44 yards, setting the offense up for first-and-goal. But it took until fourth-and-goal for Army to extend its lead to 24-0, with a Hellums sneak from the one-foot line with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter.

Hellums’ pass to Short was Short’s longest reception of the season, as well as Hellums’ longest completed pass in his career.

Senior Dewayne Coleman entered at quarterback late in the third quarter as the Black Knights led comfortably, 24-0.

With the drizzle intensifying across the second half, Reed picked up a pair of first downs on the ground to reach the red zone. However, the drive stalled and Jones missed a field goal attempt from 38 yards.

Army forced its first turnover of the contest on its next defensive series. After Charlotte recorded its first two first downs of the second half with under 12 minutes to play, Stephen Nnadozie fell on a fumble forced by Kalib Fortner at Army’s 41-yard line.

The Black Knights chewed up nearly seven minutes on their next offensive drive, moving 31 yards but seeing the series end with a 45-yard field goal blocked.

Charlotte notched its only points of the afternoon, a near shutout for the Army defense on their final drive of the game, taking over with 1:54 on the clock and finding the end zone with 12 seconds left