Charlotte makes a bold statement against East Carolina

NELL REDMOND | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Charlotte running back Cartevious Norton carries the ball against East Carolina defensive lineman Jaden McKenzie in the 49ers' 55-24 win on Oct. 5.

Charlotte football is turning the corner by putting faith first.

In a dominant 55-24 win over East Carolina, the 49ers were in control from the start, going up 14-0 early and not looking back. In front of a sold-out crowd of 17,102 people, the 49ers set the single game rushing record with 311 yards and improved to 2-0 in American Conference play.

“What God is doing in this football team is unbelievable,” head coach Biff Poggi said. “The faith in this team in God the father and Jesus his son [is unbelievable]. These kids are rolling. They’re rolling and they believe in prayer. They believe in doing the right things. I just want to say this; I don’t want anyone saying anything nice about me, and I mean that because the first glory goes to God, and the second attaboys goes to the players, and then the coaches, who I thought had a really good day today.”

Poggi has made the point all season about getting off to fast starts and the 49ers (3-3, 2-0 AAC) scored on their opening drive for the first time this season, got a stop on defense and scored again. That was the kind of start Poggi had been looking for.

“If you are going to be a good football team, you have to start fast,” he said. “[You must] win the middle eight [minutes] and close the game out. We have changed our preparation and our practice plan. [We practice] efficient first downs and efficient third downs, and we practice it live. We practice it for a long time and the kids really get after it, and they really actually enjoy it.”

Running backs Hahsaun Wilson and Carteviou Norton said the team is coming together at the right time and really gelling well. Wilson had a game high 164 yards on the ground on 15 carries and three touchdowns. Norton had 88 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. In total, the 49ers had six rushing touchdowns which ties the program record for a game.

“The big boys up front, I can’t run without them and my receivers, I can’t score without them,” Wilson said. “It’s never just me. It is a team thing, and it feels great. I’m just looking ahead to next week.”

Said Norton: “Coming in with a new team, we didn’t know what we had. We didn’t know how we were going to gel. The first couple games it took time for us to gel, and we just had to keep our faith and keep pushing forward. I feel like we’ve started something that sparked.”

Heading into the off week, the 49ers plan to go to western North Carolina to help the victims of hurricane Helene with their recovery efforts.

“Imagine if your family was out there and you didn't know who our family member was,” Poggi started, “and there was no news, and your mom had no fresh water or food or no phone service so you could possibly find them. It's mind-boggling, and I want our kids to have empathy and to live, and to not only talk about, but to live that second greatest commandment.”

Wilson and Norton are taking that to heart.

“At the end of the day, all this is a blessing,” Wilson said. “Yeah, we get to play football, but we also get an education. A lot of people don't get to get the chance or the opportunity to really have that. So just going to help somebody and help people, it brings love to my heart.”

Said Norton: “That's love. That’s real love. That just shows you what type of head coach we have and what we're taught and how he wants to mature us. We're going to help people that's in need. And when we do that, we need to sit back and think and look and just be grateful, because there’s a lot of people that don’t have the ability to do what we can do, or they are going through things that we don’t go through. It can change your mindset.”

Comments