Defense Shines, Football Wins at Home Over Charlotte

Saturday, October 11

West Point, N.Y.

12:00 PM

Army West Point

3-3 , 2-2

Charlotte

1-5 , 0-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Charlotte

Army West Point

Photo by: Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Defense Shines, Football Wins at Home Over Charlotte

October 11, 2025 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

WEST POINT, N.Y. — 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

GAME NOTES

Carrying the Flag: Outside Linebacker Gavin Shields led the Black Knights onto the field with the Black Flag.

Division of the Game: Army honored the 11th Airborne Division with helmet decals and headset logos. The 11th Airborne Division, known as the Arctic Angels, is a specialized unit of the U.S. Army focused on Arctic warfare and airborne operations, reactivated in 2022.

Army is now 19-5 in its last 24 games dating back to November 2023. Army's .783 winning percentage was the 8th best in the country during that span and the 2nd best of Group of Five schools (Memphis) entering today's slate of ballgames.
QB Cale Hellums made his third start of the season (K-State, North Texas).
Hellums rushed for two touchdowns, both on quarterback sneaks from a yard out, marking his second straight game with multiple rushing scores. Hellums leads Army with 8 rushing touchdowns.
He has had five rushing touchdowns over the past two weeks. It was his second start this season, rushing for over 120 yards and rushing for 2+ TDs.
Army rushed for 304 yards as a team, its second time eclipsing 300+ this season on the ground.
Army defense only allowed 178 total yards of offense to Charlotte. It is the fewest yards Army has allowed since 2021 vs. Bucknell.
Under defensive coordinator Nate Woody (2020–present), the Black Knights have now held opponents to seven points or fewer 15 times, including today — winning all 15 games.
Charlotte totaled –3 yards of offense in the third quarter.
Army's 37:54 of possession was the second-most in a game this year (Kansas State).
For the second time in 2025 and the second time in as many contests, Army held its opponent scoreless in the first quarter. The Black Knights also held their opponent scoreless in the opening half for the first time this year.
Army's one penalty committed and 15 penalty yards each were tied for the second fewest this year (North Texas).
Army's offense scored a touchdown on its opening drive of the game, marking back-to-back weeks doing so. Saturday's 5:06 opening drive was also the second-longest opening series for Army this season, behind a 10:34 opening series at UAB October 4.
The Black Knights' 10:51 time of possession on a scoring drive in the second quarter was their longest of the season, and the team's second game in a row with a 10-minute possession.
Army had six different ballcarriers record six or more rushing attempts in the game (Hellums, Reed, C. Smith, Bartosh, Coleman, and Short).
The 31,172 fans at Michie Stadium Saturday made up the largest crowd since the Michie Stadium Preservation Project commenced, the largest at West Point since facing Boston College on October 7, 2023 (34,017), and was the fifth-largest crowd at Michie Stadium in the post-COVID era.
Saturday marked the first-ever matchup between Army and Charlotte.
Smith scored his first career touchdown, a 5-yard run in the second quarter.
Senior Jabril Wiliams made his first career start at cornerback.
The Black Knights won the coin toss for the fourth time in six games to date in 2025. In each of Army's coin toss wins, they have deferred, also having kicked off in the first half at UAB when the Blazers opted to receive.