Official Stats
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven football team survived a late charge by the Bethel University (TN) Wildcats on Saturday night and held on for a 21-13 Mid-South Conference victory at H.T. Newell Field. The Blazers jumped ahead 21-3, but the Wildcats battled back to score 10 fourth quarter points to make it close. However, Belhaven put together their best performance of the season against a good football team in Bethel whose record is deceiving after playing three ranked teams to begin the season.

                                    

The first quarter of Saturday's game was a defensive battle with neither team able to crack the scoreboard. The Blazers had two first quarter possessions, but could not sustain a drive and Bethel (0-4, 0-1) only had the ball for seven plays prior to being forced to punt on their first offensive possession of the contest. Bethel put the first points of the game on the board early in the second quarter on a field goal by Sean Fraser. The drive for the Wildcats began at their own 29 yard line and went 12 plays for 64 yards while taking 6:42 off the clock.

 

It would not take long for Belhaven (2-2, 2-0) to answer as on the ensuing kickoff Ricardo Bolton returned the ball 62 yards all the way to the Bethel 36 yard line. Following a couple of pass completions by Alex Williams to Cordario Calvin and Shaun Ector which put the ball on the seven yard line, Williams connected with Calvin again for a seven yard touchdown pass to give the Blazers a 7-3 advantage. The score would stay 7-3 going into the third quarter as both teams' defenses tightened up for the rest for the first half.

 

Bethel opened the second half with the ball and held it for five plays before having to punt it away to Belhaven. The Blazers got it back and also had to bring on the punt team after running five offensive plays. However, Bethel's Justin Rogers fumbled the punt return and Trevor Butts fell on the loose ball at the Wildcat 41 yard line setting up Belhaven's next touchdown.

 

 Belhaven went to the “Wild Blazer” formation with Barry Johnson at quarterback and Johnson took the first play of the drive straight ahead for six yards on the ground. The very next play the Blazers caught Bethel looking for another run, but instead Johnson handed off to Ricardo Bolton who flipped it to Williams for a reverse pass. Williams made the throw count finding Calvin wide open in the end zone from 35 yards out for his second touchdown pass of the game. Justin Miller added the extra point and extended the Belhaven lead to 14-3.

 

Later in the third quarter, the Blazers would convert another Bethel turnover into points. The Wildcats were moving the ball and had it at the Belhaven 40 when Wildcat quarterback Troy Watson was picked off on a third down pass by Jonathan Reed who returned it 22 yards to Bethel's 48. It was Reed's second interception of the 2009 campaign. On a third down and 12 play, Williams dropped back to pass and Shaun Ector made a great athletic play out jumping two Bethel defenders in the zone to haul in the touchdown pass. The touchdown reception by Ector was his first of the season and gave the Blazers a 21-3 lead.

 

At that point, Belhaven looked to be in control of the game with the defense shutting down the Wildcats on the ensuing possession following the Blazer touchdown. Unfortunately, Bethel would take advantage of a mishandled punt return by the Blazers which led to their first touchdown. The Wildcats recovered Justin Novaks fumble on the return at the Belhaven 44 and engineered an 11 play 44 yard scoring drive. Bethel running back Josh Boyd took into the end zone from a yard out and cut Belhaven's lead to 21-10 with 10:50 remaining in the game.

 

With 4:27 left in the contest, Bethel took over the ball at their own 49 yard line following a Belhaven punt. They would not have the ball for long as cornerback Craig McDonald intercepted a Watson pass at the Belhaven 22 and returned it back to the 46 to negate the good field position by Bethel. The Blazers punted it back to the Wildcats who then mounted one last scoring drive. Bethel drove the ball down to the Belhaven 10 and kicked a field goal with 16 seconds on the clock making it a one possession game at 21-13.

 

The Blazers would end the rally when Jeffery Maxwell recovered the onside kick by Fraser and the Wildcats. Williams and the offense came onto the field, took a knee and secured the 21-13 victory for the Blazers.

 

Williams completed 17 of his 28 pass attempts for 197 yards and three touchdowns. More importantly, Williams took good care of the football and did not throw an interception the entire night. Calvin was once again Williams favorite target recording nine receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Ector had two catches for 47 yards and one touchdown. Ricardo Bolton led the team in rushing with 11 carries for 44 yards. Bolton and Calvin each had 106 all purpose yards to lead the team in that category. Bolton had the big 62 yard kickoff return which setup one of the Blazer touchdowns. As a team, Belhaven churned out 264 yards of total offense with 67 yards rushing and 197 yards through the air. The Blazers lost two fumbles in the game on Saturday night.

 

Defensively, Belhaven was led by Cameron Achord who had 21 total tackles with one for a loss and a fumble recovery. Reggie Lumpkin had 13 tackles and a pass breakup. Melvin Dyson, Chris Williams, and Jonathan Gamberi each had sacks for the Blazers while McDonald and Reed both came up with interceptions.

 

Josh Boyd led the Bethel offense with 28 carries for 143 yards and a touchdown. Cordarius Mann carried the ball 11 times for 59 yards and quarterback Troy Watson went 15 for 30 through the air for 160 yards with two interceptions. Mann was the Wildcats leading receiver with four catches for 34 yards. Boyd had two catches for 31 yards. As a team Bethel racked up 355 yards of total offense with 195 of those yards coming on the ground.

 

On the defensive side of the ball, Chancy DePriest had nine total tackles followed by BJ Banks with seven total tackles. Wade Vandergriff, William Henry, and Banks each had a sack in the contest.