CHARLOTTE – After a surprising blowout win on the road at Rice last weekend, the Charlotte 49ers were hoping to build momentum going into their last three games of the season. The visiting Western Kentucky Hilltoppers had other ideas, and quarterback Austin Reed’s six-touchdown performance ensured that the Charlotte hope was short-lived as the visitors walked out of Charlotte’s Richardson Stadium with a 59-7 win on Saturday afternoon.
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| Photo Credit: Ed Conway |
WKU started the game strong, scoring in only two plays on their first drive. A reverse run by LT Sanders got the Hilltoppers into Charlotte territory and Austin Reed hit a streaking Jaylen Hall to open the scoring. Charlotte’s first drive was not as successful. A poor throw on a scramble was picked off by the Hilltoppers’ Upton Stout and returned to the seven-yard line, foreshadowing what was to come the rest of the afternoon. Reed found Daewood Davis on the next drive and the visitors had a two-touchdown lead only three minutes into the game. It was the second of five first-half touchdowns to five different receivers for the transfer from West Florida. Reed later found Malachi Corley, Joshua Simon, and Joey Beljan to give the Hilltoppers a 35-0 lead going into the half.
Charlotte tried to get their offense moving in the second half, going seventy-five yards in ten plays, resulting in an acrobatic grab by Elijah Spencer in the end zone to get the 49ers on the board for the first time on the afternoon. WKU immediately responded, scoring in four plays, with Reed finding his sixth different touchdown target, Michael Mathison, to extend the lead again. The Hilltoppers added a field goal in the fourth quarter and put an exclamation point on the game with a forty-two-yard Anthony Brackenridge pick-six.
Western Kentucky’s quarterback Austin Reed finished with 409 yards and six touchdowns on the day. Backup quarterback Darius Ocean added a late score to make up the final margin.
Next Week
Charlotte (2-8, 1-5 CUSA) is on the road at Middle Tennessee next Saturday before returning home for the final game of the 49ers’ season on November 19th against Louisiana Tech. Western Kentucky hosts Rice in their home finale before hitting the road for the final two weeks of the season.
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