Jackson, MS-The Belhaven football team will hit the road for the final time this season as they travel to Jackson, TN on Saturday to meet up with the Lambuth University Eagles. Saturday's battle will be for sole possession of first place in the Mid-South Conference Western Division as both teams own a perfect 4-0 record in division play. This will be the 12th meeting between the two schools with Lambuth holding a 7-4 series lead. The Eagles won last year's contest at H.T. Newell Field by a final of 63-13.

Lambuth dominated the entire game scoring 36 unanswered points to open up the 2008 contest. The Blazers finally got a score with 7:05 left in the second quarter on a touchdown run by Damien Davis. Belhaven's only other score came on a 15 yard touchdown pass from Joshua Bohanan to Barry Johnson. Lambuth quarterback Adam Wiese, who the Blazers will see on Saturday, completed 11 of his 13 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns. Blazer wide receiver Shaun Ector had a big game last year catching seven passes for 85 yards. Cameron Achord led the Belhaven defense with nine total tackles and an interception.

Belhaven enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 5-3 while Lambuth comes in with a perfect mark of 8-0. The Blazers are receiving votes in the latest 2009 NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Poll while the Eagles are ranked fifth in the country. Belhaven edged Cumberland University last weekend with thrilling 7-6 win in overtime. It took three overtimes before Lambuth eventually got by Bethel University by a final of 19-16.

THE BELHAVEN REPORT:
The Belhaven football team battled the mud and a stingy Cumberland University defense in their 7-6 overtime victory on the road last Saturday afternoon in LeBanon, TN. Saturday's game was a pivotal Mid-South Conference Western Division contest enabling the Blazers to hang on to a share of first place in the division.

Ricardo Bolton led the offense carrying the ball 14 times for 57 yards while hauling in five receptions for 46 yards and the game winning score in overtime. For Bolton, it was his sixth touchdown catch and seventh touchdown overall in 2009. Jerred Wallace completed 15 of his 25 pass attempts for 121 yards and a touchdown. Wallace also had a couple of second half interceptions. Cordario Calvin was the team's second leading receiver having made five receptions for 35 yards. As a team, Belhaven ran 50 plays for 197 yards and possessed the ball for 22:02.

Defensively, Belhaven had another great effort from Tramaine Brock with two more interceptions and three total tackles. Brock now has a team high five interceptions on the season and is third in the NAIA in total interceptions. Reggie Lumpkin and Cameron Achord paced the team in total tackles with 13 apiece followed by Jeffery Maxwell who brought down 11 ball carriers. Lumpkin has 80 tackles on the season and is nearing Belhaven's all time tackles record of 283 held by Brandon Beasley with each and every game. Achord is second on the Belhaven defense with 54 tackles this year. Chad Smith had nine tackles and a sack while Jonathan Gamberi and Jack Hayes were each credited with a half sack. Jonathan Reed was responsible for the Blazer's other takeaway thanks to a fumble recovery in the third quarter.

Belhaven will arguably face one of their toughest tests this season on Saturday at Lambuth. The Eagles own one of the most prolific passing offenses in the NAIA ranking fifth in the country in passing yards per game at 315.9 and sixth in total passing yards at 2,527. Lambuth is also eighth in the nation in scoring per game with an average of 40 points per contest. However, the Blazer defense has been solid defending the pass giving up just 96.8 yards through the air per game which ranks them 10th in the NAIA. Belhaven will face a base 4-3 defense from Lambuth that is ranked ninth in total sacks (24) and sacks per game (3). The Belhaven offensive line will have to be ready to pick up blitzes from a number of directions in Saturday's game.

THE LAMBUTH REPORT:
The Eagles are led by Head Coach Hugh Freeze who is in his second season at Lambuth. Freeze guided the Eagles to an 8-4 season a year ago and made a trip to the NAIA playoffs. Lambuth is 8-0 in 2009 and survived an upset bid by Bethel College last week with a 19-16 triple overtime win.

Adam Wiese leads the Eagles on offense as he enters Saturday's game averaging 276.4 yards per game through the air in 2009. He has also thrown 21 touchdown passes and ranks seventh in the nation in passing yards per game, sixth in total passing yards (2,211), and 11th in pass efficiency with a 158.1 rating this year. Bethel's defense kept Wiese in check last week holding him to 14 completions for 129 yards and an interception. However, Wiese was injured for part of the game forcing backup quarterback David Hawkins to take some snaps.

The Eagle ground assault is led by Ben Stallings who averages 62.9 yards per game and has eight rushing touchdowns this season. Lambuth has a number of weapons at the receiving position led by Jefferson Rodrick who has nine touchdown catches and an 80.4 yards per game receiving average. Brandon Okechukwu has five TD catches and racks up 54.4 yards per game on average. Earnest Adams also averages over 50 yards per game in receiving at 53.9. Rodrick had seven catches for 83 yards and a touchdown last week against Bethel. Adams made six receptions for 106 yards a week ago.

On the defensive side of the ball, Jamie Payton paces the team in tackles with 65 and has 3.5 sacks so far in 2009. Payton also has 10 tackles for a loss and an interception and fumble recovery to his credit this year. Luis Doray is Lambuth's sack leader with 6.5 during the 2009 campaign and has recorded 35 total tackles. Doray's 6.5 sacks rank him ninth in the NAIA. Doray had nine total tackles including a sack in last weekend's win over Bethel. Belhaven quarterback Jerred Wallace will have to be wary of Rashard Taylor in the secondary who is the team leader in interceptions with three.

All the live play-by-play action of Saturday's game can be heard via Stretch Internet through the Belhaven Athletics website. The pregame show begins at 12:45 PM followed by the kickoff at 1:00 PM. A link to the broadcast page can be accessed by clicking here.