Official Stats
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven football team secured their first winning season since 2006 with a thrilling 37-31 win in overtime against Union College (KY). The Blazers ended the year with an overall record of 6-5 which was a four game improvement from a season ago.

Things got off to a rocky start for Belhaven (6-5) as Tramaine Brock was stripped of the football at the 29 yard line on the opening kickoff return setting up the Bulldogs in excellent field position for their first drive. It didn't take long for Union (4-6) to punch it into the end zone as quarterback Mike Brinkley found Sean Mackey for a 15 yard touchdown pass to put Union on top 7-0.

Belhaven countered with a touchdown at the 6:11 mark of the first quarter on quarterback Jerred Wallace's first touchdown pass of the game to Ricardo Bolton from 22 yards out. For Bolton, it was his eighth touchdown catch in 2009. On Union's next possession, the Bulldogs fought back to get a 35 yard field goal by Chad Boyington to regain the lead at 10-7. The drive started on Union's own 20 yard line taking nine plays and eating up 62 yards.

Neither offense could move the ball over the next few minutes as both defense's tightened up. Belhaven had the best opportunity to score early in the second quarter with a first and goal at the Bulldog's one yard line. However, a fumble by Barry Johnson ended the drive a kept the Blazers off the board as Union's Ryan Hackworth fell on the football. The Blazers eventually got the ball back following an 18 yard punt by Chad Boyington giving the Blazers excellent field position at their own 42 yard line.

Belhaven needed just five plays to go 58 yards for the touchdown. Wallace had two big completions on the drive to Shaun Ector for 29 yards and then two plays later found Cordario Calvin in the end zone for six points. The extra point by kicker Justin Miller was good and the Blazers took the lead for the first time at 14-10 with 4:26 left in the first half.

Late in the half both teams had a chance to drive for more points, but Belhaven was forced to punt after they had gained possession of the ball on a Craig McDonald interception. Union took over after Wilson's punt on their own 33 yard with 1:38 left on the second quarter clock. The Bulldogs quickly drove the ball down the field and had a first and ten situation on the Blazers 31 yard line. Brinkley attempted a quick out pass towards the sideline on the 25 yard line, but Brock anticipated the throw and returned the interception 75 yards the other way for a Belhaven touchdown. All of a sudden, the Blazers had a 21-10 lead with 14 seconds left in the first half. The remaining seconds ticked off the clock on the ensuing kickoff and Belhaven took the lead and the momentum into the locker room at the break.

The only touchdown in the third quarter was scored by the Bulldogs on a five yard run by Antonio Drane cutting the Belhaven advantage to 21-17. Union began the drive on the Blazers 24 yard line after Ricardo Bolton's fumble was recovered by Cody Mills. It only took three plays and 1:19 for the Bulldogs to punch it into the end zone. Belhaven was able to answer on Miller's fifth field goal of the season with 26 seconds to go in the third quarter and push their advantage back up to a seven point lead at 24-17.

Union would then make a late charge and take the lead late in the fourth quarter with two straight scores. The Bulldogs struck on a 68 yard touchdown pass from Brinkley to Demetrius Hicks with 6:53 to go in the contest. Belhaven's next drive was stopped on three plays as the Union defense got to Wallace for two quarterback sacks. After the punt by Belhaven, the Bulldogs were setup in with good field position at their own 44 yard line. Following a two yard run by Rob Brown, Brinkley found Hicks again for a 54 yard touchdown pass with 3:42 to play and all of a sudden Union had the lead for the first time since the second quarter at 31-24.

Fortunately, the Belhaven offense regrouped on the next drive and took the ball 51 yards on five plays which culminated on a Wallace touchdown throw to Shaun Ector for 12 yards to tie the game at 31-31. The other big play on the drive was a 27 yard pass completion to Calvin on the play before to put the ball on the Union 12 yard line.

With 48 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, the Blazer defense came up with a big play as defensive lineman Jack Hayes stripped running back Ben Kelly of the football after he caught a four yard pass from Brinkley in the middle of the field. Melvin Dyson fell on the ball at mid field and a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty on Union moved the ball all the way down to the Bulldogs 35 yard line. Belhaven moved the ball down to the 16 yard line and with two seconds to go called a timeout to setup a potential game winning field goal.

Miller came on to kick and Union used the first two of their timeouts to try and ice Miller before the field goal attempt. The Blazers lined up again and it looked the play had started before Union was granted their third time as Miller kicked the ball through the uprights. However, the officials said the timeout was called prior to the kick and the field goal was waved off. Miller's next attempt went wide left and the game went into overtime.

Belhaven won the coin flip and took the ball first to begin the overtime frame and marched the 25 yards into the end zone for six points. Wallace completed a pass to Calvin for 11 yards and then fired a 14 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Dizer to give the Blazers the lead at 37-31. Miller's extra point was blocked by Bert Brown and the edge for Belhaven remained at six points. The Blazer defense then stepped up big and made some huge plays. Craig McDonald broke up a potential touchdown pass swatting the ball away from Demetrius Davis in the end zone. Brinkley was then sacked by Dyson and Hayes on the next two plays setting up fourth down and 12 from the 27. McDonald came through again denying Tim Dandy of a potential first down reception that would have kept the game alive as the Blazers held on for the 37-31 win.

Wallace had another great game throwing the football completing 27 of his 43 pass attempts for 290 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Belhaven offense. Wallace finished the year with 16 touchdown passes and 1,401 in eight games played. Bolton paced the Blazer ground attack with 59 yards on 15 carries in the game. Calvin eclipsed the 1,000 yard receiving mark with nine catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. Calvin finished the year with 1,028 yards, 12 touchdown catches, and averaged 93.5 yards per game receiving this season. Calvin is only the seventh Blazer to go over 1,000 yards in a season and is now second in school history for most catches in a season with 85.

Ector also had a big day catching the ball recording 88 yards on five receptions which included a touchdown. Dizer had five receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown followed by Bolton who had four catches for 32 yards and one score. As a team, the Belhaven offense racked up 333 total yards with 290 of them coming through the air. The Blazers lost four fumbles, but fortunately the defense came up with two fumble recoveries and a pair of interceptions.

Speaking of the Belhaven defense, safety Tramaine Brock tied the Belhaven single season interception record with six on the interception and 75 yard return for a touchdown. Eddie Grecu led the Blazers defense with 10 tackles and had two sacks. Reggie Lumpkin had nine tackles and is now Belhaven's all time career tackles leader with 292. He also broke the Belhaven single season tackles record with 111. As a team, the Blazers recorded nine sacks in all on the afternoon with Jack Hayes leading the way with three. Dyson also contributed a pair of sacks while Brock and Chad Smith each added one sack.

Brinkley led the Union offense completing 17 of 37 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns. Brinkley did have two interceptions including the one that was returned by Brock for the touchdown. Rob Brown tallied 94 yards on the ground on 12 carries and Hicks had a game high six catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Mackey had the other touchdown reception for Union College. As a team, the Bulldogs had 419 yards of total offense while William Roundtree and Terry Young led the defense with eight tackles apiece.

Belhaven finished the season 6-5 overall, went 4-2 in the Mid-South Conference Western Division and have a lot to build on as they get ready for 2010.