Official Stats
Montgomery, AL-The Belhaven football team lost for the second time in as many weeks in Mid-South Conference Western Division action falling to Faulkner University 41-31 Saturday afternoon in the Cramton Bowl. The Eagles scored 18 unanswered points in the second half to pull out the come from behind win. The Blazers were bitten by the turnover bug again with two lost fumbles and a pair of interceptions.

The game got off to a rocky start as Belhaven quarterback Alex Williams was sacked and fumbled the football on the first play from scrimmage. Ellis Patterson came in off the corner unblocked and jarred the ball loose and Eric Thompson was there to fall on the fumble at the Blazer 17 yard line. On the very next play, Faulkner quarterback Zach Tribble connected with Jurrell Williams on a touchdown pass to take the early 7-0 lead.

Faulkner (2-3, 1-1 MSC West) recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but the Belhaven defense stepped up and shutdown the Eagle offense on four downs giving the offense great field position. Belhaven (3-3, 0-2 MSC West) took advantage and marched 49 yards in six plays as Barry Johnson ran it in from 10 yards out to tie the game. Later in the first quarter, the Blazers grabbed their first lead of the game on William's 14 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Dizer with 3:24 left in the first quarter.

Unfortunately, the lead did not last long as Faulkner's Quinton Prothro returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to deadlock the score again at 14-14. From there, the game went back and forth for the rest of the half and into the beginning of the third quarter. With 13:51 to play until halftime, Williams connected on his second touchdown pass of the game finding Barry Johnson on a fourth down and goal play from the three yard line.

The pass gave the Blazers a 21-14 edge until Tribble fired another touchdown pass to Kamoron Clay two minutes later to bring the Eagles back to within a point at 21-20. Belhaven kept the lead at that point thanks to a blocked extra point by Dewayne Whitten. The teams traded field goals on the next two possessions with Belhaven's James Bryan drilling a 30 yarder followed by Thomas Price's 21 yard field goal for Faulkner. Belhaven led 24-23 as both teams headed into the locker room at halftime.

Belhaven came out in the second half and appeared to have gained the upper hand at the 12:34 mark of the third quarter when Michael Pettus ran the ball up the middle and into the end zone for a 48 yard touchdown. Unfortunately, that would prove to be the last touchdown of the game for the Blazers in the contest. Faulkner came back to tie the game on Triston McCathern's 28 yard touchdown run followed by the two point conversion. The go ahead score for the Eagles came with 7:13 left in the game on Tribble's second touchdown pass to Williams from 14 yards out. Price helped seal the deal with 2:04 to play on a 22 yard field goal that made it a two possession game.

Belhaven made some crucial mistakes in the fourth quarter including three of their four turnovers. Williams threw his two interceptions on consecutive drives leading to the go ahead touchdown and field goal. With 1:26 to play, Belhaven receiver Riggins Dore appeared to be headed to the end zone, but fumbled on the one yard line essentially cementing the victory for Faulkner. A potential score would have brought Belhaven to within three points and an opportunity to get it back with an onside kick. At that point, the Eagles ran out the clock and took home the 41-31 win.

Williams completed 22 of his 43 pass attempts on the afternoon for 241 yards and two touchdowns. He had two more interceptions on Saturday and has thrown seven so far this season. Williams two touchdown passes gives him 15 through six games in 2010. Johnson led the Belhaven ground assault carrying the ball 12 times for 81 yards and a touchdown followed by Pettus who had five carries for 67 yards and a touchdown.

Dizer had a big day catching passes for Belhaven on Saturday afternoon as he became Williams's favorite target in the absence of injured wide receiver Cordario Calvin. Dizer made the most of his opportunities as he led all receivers with 10 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. Douglas Ash Jr. had three catches for 48 yards and Johnson came up with three catches for 27 yards and a touchdown. As a team, Belhaven amassed 427 yards of total offense with 175 yards on the ground and 252 through the air.

Defensively, Ricky Wadlington had 11 total tackles including one for a loss and now has a team high 53 tackles with 5.5 for a loss on the season. Jarrard Sterling and Marquis Browdy each had seven tackles and Donnie Hamilton had two stops and an interception. Jack Hayes came up with 2.5 tackles for a loss and has 10 so far this season.

Faulkner quarterback Zach Tribble had a big game completing 26 of 45 pass attempts for 287 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Brandon Cheatham went for 103 yards rushing on 17 carries and Kyle McDowell paced the Eagles in receptions hauling in nine passes for 82 yards. Williams had only three catches for 33 yards, but two of them went for touchdowns. Faulkner had 425 yards of total offense on the afternoon.

Anthony Haywood, Matt Enyart, and Lee Waller each had six tackles for Faulkner and Enyart recorded two sacks. Emanuel Godfrey and Raquil Ward each picked off a Williams pass in the contest.

Belhaven will return home on Saturday when they entertain Shorter University at H.T. Newell Field. The kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 and all the play-by-play action can be heard via Stretch Internet through the Belhaven Athletics website beginning with the pregame show at 1:15 PM.