CHARLOTTE — Conner Harrell’s late touchdown run lifted Charlotte (1-2) to a 42-35 home win over the FCS No. 18 Monmouth Hawks (2-1) on Saturday night, giving Tim Albin his first victory as the 49ers’ head coach as a birthday gift.
Harrell broke a 35-35 tie with a two-yard keeper with 1:49 remaining, capping a career night for the redshirt junior UNC transfer in Jerry Richardson Stadium.
Harrell completed 26 of 30 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns with one interception as he broke the school record for single-game completion percentage at 86.7%; his passing yardage was the fourth highest in program history.
He added 47 rushing yards and two rushing scores.
“What a game — I said last week that we’d have to play our best game to make it a good game,” Albin said. “And we took some steps in a lot of areas on the offense, for sure, but what an exciting game. The kids kept believing. There was some tough body language at halftime. Offense moved the ball and had turnovers, but we battled through it. I thought there were a lot of great performances.”
Samford transfer wideout E. Jai Mason hauled in 10 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns. His reception total tied for the second most in school history, while his yardage ranked third.
Mason caught a 24-yard score in the fourth quarter and a long ball earlier that helped Charlotte (2-1) pull ahead before Monmouth tied it. Harrell also connected with Jalon Bearns III on a 4-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
“I know our coach preached to just make the play when your number is called,” Mason said. “So that’s something that I just wanted to do every time my number was called. Just make a play.”
Charlotte’s offense scored touchdowns on five straight drives in the game’s final 30 minutes and never went three-and-out. Freshman running back Rod Gainey Jr. chipped in 74 rushing yards and a touchdown as the 49ers rolled up 563 total yards.
“Conner had another solid performance, and he showed some really good grit,” Albin said. “Your football team takes on the personality of your quarterback.”
Harrell said his approach was about keeping things simple.
“It’s about going through reads, trusting your eyes and trusting your teammates,” he said. “They gave us the look that we wanted, so I took a shot.”
Monmouth (2-1) stayed in the back-and-forth contest behind quarterback Derek Robertson, who threw for 410 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Josh Derry. Neither team led by more than a touchdown all night as the Hawks managed only 48 rushing yards.
The Niners, who generated more points against Monmouth than they did against their first two opponents this season, are now set to begin American Conference play on Thursday night as the Rice Owls (2-1) come to the Queen City. Last season, Charlotte had a 4-4 record against conference opponents.
