Jackson, MS-The Belhaven football team is making their final preparations for this weekend's homecoming game against Shorter College at H.T. Newell Field. Belhaven owns a 3-1 series lead over the Hawks with their only loss in the series being a 35-0 setback last season. The two teams first met in the 2005 season when the Blazers came away with a 45-38 victory.

Shorter controlled last year's game from start to finish jumping out in front with 14 points in the first quarter and then pulled away in the second half with a touchdown in the third quarter and two more scores in the fourth period. As a team, the Hawks ran the ball 63 times and rolled up 331 yards on the Belhaven defense. A.J. Cooley, who the Blazers will see a lot of again on Saturday, led Shorter in rushing with 26 carries for 101 yards and three touchdowns against the Blazers a season ago. Belhaven was limited on offense to just 112 yards by a solid Hawk defense. Blazer running back Damien Davis led the offense with 40 yards on eight carries while Reggie Lumpkin paced the defense with 15 total tackles.

Belhaven enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 5-4 and 4-1 in the Mid-South Conference Western Division. The Blazers suffered a 54-16 loss at 5th ranked Lambuth University last weekend. Shorter comes into Saturday's showdown with an identical overall record of 5-4. The Hawks are 2-2 in the MSC Western Division after losing a 14-13 decision to Cumberland last week. The Hawks saw the Bulldogs score 14 fourth quarter points including a touchdown pass from Mitch Reynolds to Christian Burnett with four seconds left to seal the win for Cumberland. With a win over Shorter this week, Belhaven could clinch a second place finish in the MSC Western Division.

THE BELHAVEN REPORT:
The Belhaven football team lost for the first time in Mid-South Conference Western Division play last weekend at Lambuth. The Blazers were able to stay with the Eagles early being down by just 12 points at 28-16 at halftime. However, Lambuth exploded for four unanswered touchdowns in the second half to pull away for the victory.

Belhaven was held in check on offense by a very stingy Lambuth defense who had only given up 10 touchdowns coming into the game. Ryan Rice led the Blazers in rushing but could only muster 14 yards on four carries. Wallace completed 19 of his 38 pass attempts for 218 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. Cordario Calvin had six catches for 43 yards, Kevin Dizer reeled in five passes for 66 yards, and Bolton made two catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown catch by Bolton was his seventh of the season and eighth overall in 2009. The seven touchdown receptions by Bolton rank him second on the team behind Calvin who has eight so far this year. Calvin also leads the team in total receptions with 63 placing him sixth overall in the NAIA in that category. As a team, Belhaven had 247 yards of total offense, but had just 19 net yards of rushing as a team.

Defensively, Reginald Lumpkin, Cameron Achord, and Melvin Dyson led the Blazers with 10 total tackles each. Lumpkin also came up with an interception and Reed had the fumble recovery and return for a touchdown. Lumpkin now has 90 tackles to lead the Blazer defense in 2009. Melvin Dyson and Johnathan Gamberi both recorded sacks in Saturday afternoon's game.

Belhaven will face another tough opponent this week against Shorter. The Hawks boast a powerful running attack that ranks first in the NAIA in rushing yards (2,822) and rushing yards per game at just fewer than 314 a contest. The Hawks are also dangerous on special teams specifically when it comes to kickoff returns. Shorter is second in the nation in kickoff returns yards per attempt at 26.3. The Belhaven defense will have to be ready for the triple option offense from Shorter so it's imperative that the Blazers play good assignment football. On the offensive side of the ball, Belhaven will face another 3-4 base defense from Shorter. It's a defensive scheme that the Blazers have seen a number of different times from opponents in 2009.

THE SHORTER REPORT:
The Hawks are led by Head Coach Phil Jones who is in his 5th season at Shorter. Jones guided the Hawks to a 9-3 record last season and an NAIA playoff appearance. Jones has compiled an overall record of 31-22 at Shorter heading into this weekend's matchup with Belhaven. The Hawks come into the game after having lost last week to Cumberland University.

A.J. Cooley is the heart and soul of Shorter's offense averaging 117.3 yards per game running the football. The Hawks are very much a run oriented team which features the triple option ground attack. Cooley has 13 rushing touchdowns and is ranked third in the NAIA in total rushing yards (1,056), and sixth in rushing yards per game. Shorter will also look to get the ball in the hands of Antwon Hamilton who averages 69.7 yards per game on the ground and quarterback Ben Williams is also averaging just under 60 yards per game rushing on the season. Appleton and Williams each have six rushing touchdowns during the 2009 season.

Appleton led Shorter in rushing last week against Cumberland with 10 carries for 91 yards while Cooley churned out 82 yards and had a touchdown on 17 carries last week. Williams completed one pass on seven attempts for 85 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. The lone completion was an 85 yard touchdown pass to Jordan Hazzard with 58 seconds to go in the game.

On special teams, Cooley is a threat to take it to the house each time he touches the ball. Cooley leads the NAIA in yards per kickoff return at 33.3 with two touchdowns. Hazzard is another weapon for the Hawks on special teams as he averages 31.1 yards per kickoff return and also has two touchdowns in the return game. Hazzard is ranked fourth in the NAIA in yards per kickoff return.

On defense, linebacker Logan Lollis is Shorter's leading tackler with 81 total stops on the season. Lollis has a team high nine tackles for a loss and ranks second on the Hawks defense with 2.5 sacks. Strong Safety Daniel Hazzard is also a playmaker on defense with 71 total tackles and four tackles for a loss. Other key defensive players include linebacker Garrett Hochstetler with 68 total tackles and three interceptions, cornerback AJ Baker has five interceptions and safety Drew Elrod also has three interceptions in 2009. Hochstetler had a great game last week against Cumberland with 19 total tackles to pace the defense while Lollis had 10 total tackles and a sack last week.

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 1:15 PM followed by the kickoff at 1:30 PM. A link to the broadcast page can be accessed by clicking here.