Jackson, MS-The Belhaven football team hits the road this weekend as they travel to Cumberland University for a Mid-South Conference Western Division battle with the Bulldogs. This will be the 11^th meeting between the two schools with Cumberland holding a 6-4 advantage in the series that began in 1998. The Bulldogs have won the last two contests including a 46-43 decision at H.T. Newell Field in 2008.

 

Last year's game was dominated by both offenses with Cumberland amassing over 500 yards and Belhaven totaling over 400 yards of offense. Blazer running back Ricardo Bolton had one of his best games of the season carrying the ball 13 times for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Bolton also had a receiving touchdown in last year's game. Quarterback Jerred Wallace completed 28 of his 50 pass attempts for 297 yards including three touchdowns and two interceptions. Shaun Ector caught six of those passes for 129 yards and two scores. Defensively, Reginald Lumpkin led the Blazers with nine total tackles.

 

Belhaven enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 4-3 and are unbeaten at 3-0 in Mid-South Conference Western Division play. Belhaven is also receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll. The Blazers are coming off a tough loss at home to Campbellsville University last week 21-20. Cumberland comes in with an overall record of 3-4 and 1-1 in the Mid-South Conference Western Division. The Bulldogs are on a two game winning streak after having earned a victory last week over Virginia-Wise 27-20 and a 23-6 win over Faulkner the week before.

 

The Belhaven football team saw their four game winning streak come to a close with the loss to Campbellsville University last Saturday afternoon at H.T. Newell Field. The Blazers held a 20-7 lead with just over two minutes to go in the game, but the Tigers were able to mount a late comeback to pull out the victory in Mid-South Conference cross divisional play.

 

Belhaven wide receiver Cordario Calvin had a big day offensively catching nine passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns. Calvin has a team high of eight touchdown catches on the season and is averaging 99 yards receiving per contest. Calvin leads the MSC in total receptions (51), receptions per game (7.3), and is second in both receiving yards per game (99.6) and total receiving yards (697). Calvin is ninth in the NAIA in total receptions, 10^th in receptions per game, and 11^th in both receiving yards per game and total receiving yards.

 

Blazer quarterback Jerred Wallace completed 11 passes for 169 yards and two TD's in his first start of the season. Wallace has four touchdowns passes on the year which include the two on Saturday and two the previous week at West Virginia Tech. Ricardo Bolton led Belhaven in rushing with 11 carries for 37 yards. The Campbellsville defense did a good job of containing Bolton who has been effective at both running and catching the football in 2009. Bolton is currently second in the MSC in all purpose yards per game at 130.1.

 

On the defensive side of the ball for the Blazers, Tramaine Brock had a 73 yard interception return for a touchdown along with six solo tackles. Reginald Lumpkin led the Blazers with 13 total tackles on the afternoon followed by Jack Hayes with eight. Lumpkin is third in the Mid-South in tackles per game at 9.6. DeMorrius Jones and Cameron Achord also had interceptions in Saturday afternoon's game. Achord also contributed a forced fumble, recovered a fumble, and made four total tackles. Brock and Jonathan Reed each lead the team with three interceptions followed by Achord and Antwon Hamilton who have two apiece in 2009.

 

Belhaven will face a strong running game from Cumberland on Saturday and will see a variety of ball carries. The Bulldogs churned out 296 rushing yards and 432 yards of total offense last weekend in their win over Virginia-Wise. The Blazers will also have to be wary of the play action passing game of the Bulldogs. On defense, Belhaven will face a four man front from Cumberland. The Bulldogs will throw a number of blitzes at the Blazers in an effort to put pressure on the quarterback. Cumberland is ranked 15^th in the NAIA in total sacks with 18.

 

The Bulldogs are led by Head Coach Dewayne Alexander and currently own a two game winning streak. Cumberland is looking to keep the momentum going on Saturday against Belhaven after topping Virginia-Wise 27-20 on the road last week. The Bulldogs used a 10 point fourth quarter to help secure the victory.

 

Curt Bureau is Cumberland's starting quarterback and is very efficient in the passing game with a 135.5 efficiency rating. Bureau was 10 of 16 for 136 yards against the Cavs last weekend. On the season, Bureau has completed 58 of his 90 pass attempts and has five touchdown passes. Bureau has yet to throw an interception in 2009. Mike Moore leads the team in receiving yards with 279 yards and three touchdowns. Moore averages 39.9 yards per game and caught four passes for 87 yards last week.

 

The Bulldogs have a talented running back in Mitch McChurch who is averaging 48.6 yards per game this season. McChurch had one of his best games of the season last weekend with 22 carries for 151 yards and two touchdowns. McChurch now has four touchdowns and a 4.5 yard per carry average in 209. Ken Dixon and Da'Juan Manning can also be expected to see carries in this weekend's game versus the Blazers. Dixon is third on the team in all purpose yards and is one of Cumberland's biggest weapons on special teams in the return game.

 

On the defensive side of the ball, Conner McChurch paced the Bulldogs in their game last week with seven total tackles. McChurch is third on the team in tackles at 42 while Todd Holman has a team high 63 this season. Holman had five tackles last week and 1.5 of Cumberland's eight sacks as a team. Ben Miller owns the team lead in sacks with three followed by Chris Miles and Todd Holman with 2.5.