Jackson, MS-The Belhaven football team will look for their first Mid-South Conference West Division victory on Saturday afternoon when Shorter University pays a visit to H.T. Newell Field. The Blazers also hope to snap their two game losing streak which has dropped their overall record to 3-3 and 0-2 in conference play. For the second consecutive game, turnovers played a key role leading to 17 points for Faulkner while costing the Blazers seven more points in a 41-31 loss at the Cramton Bowl a week ago. The Belhaven offense racked up 427 yards of total offense, but Faulkner was just as effective with 425 yards of offense last week.

Shorter comes into Saturday's game with an overall record of 3-3 and 1-1 in the Mid-South Conference West Division. The Hawks have played a tough non-conference schedule losing to NCAA Division II West Alabama and NCAA Division I Georgia State University in the Georgia Dome. Shorter had won three in a row until last week's 22-14 loss at #21 Cumberland. Turnovers played a big factor in that game as well as the Hawks turned the football over five times enabling Cumberland to pull out a 22-14 come from behind victory.

Belhaven leads the all-time series with Shorter 3-2, but the Hawks have come out on top in the last two games including a 55-42 win in 2009. It was a contrast of two different styles of offense as the Blazers put up 496 yards of offense with 426 of them coming through the air. Belhaven quarterback Jerred Wallace had a career day completing 34 of his 51 pass attempts for 414 yards and six touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, it was an unstoppable running attack by Shorter which put up 427 yards on the ground. Running back A.J. Cooley ran for a Shorter program record 255 yards and four touchdowns. Belhaven's last win in the series was a 28-21 victory over the Hawks in 2007.

THE BELHAVEN REPORT:
The Belhaven football team lost for the second time in as many weeks in Mid-South Conference Western Division action in their loss to Faulkner University 41-31 last weekend. 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.

Belhaven made their crucial mistakes in the fourth quarter including three of their four turnovers. Alex 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. Barry Johnson led the Belhaven ground assault carrying the ball 12 times for 81 yards and a touchdown followed by Michael Pettus who had five carries for 67 yards and a touchdown.

Kevin 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.

This week Belhaven's air invasion offense will have its top receiver Cordario Calvin back in the lineup. Calvin missed last week's game due to an injury. The Blazers will face another 3-4 defense that is ranked 13th out of 14 MSC teams against the pass in 2010. Belhaven is averaging 286 yards per game through the air which ranks them first in the conference. Williams is fourth in the NAIA with 1,623 yards and leads the MSC in touchdown passes with 15.

For Belhaven to come out with a win on Saturday the Blazer defense must be able to stop the run. Shorter comes into the game as the number two rushing team in the NAIA averaging 274 yards per game. The Hawks offense has a fullback, two slot backs, a tight end a wide receiver and will run the option. Belhaven is ranked third in the MSC in rush defense allowing 134.7 yards per game, but this will be the first run oriented offense the Blazers have faced this season. Octavius Edge is averaging 62.7 yards per game rushing with three touchdowns. Kenny Foster has six rushing touchdowns and is averaging 55.5 yards per contest for Shorter. Linebacker Ricky Wadlington has 53 total tackles to lead the Belhaven defense. Defensive end Jack Hayes has 10 tackles for a loss and could have some opportunities to make some big plays in the game.

THE SHORTER REPORT:
Shorter is led by Head Coach Phil Jones who is in his sixth season at the helm of the Hawks program. Jones has guided Shorter to four straight winning seasons and a MSC West Division Championship in 2008. The Hawks also made a trip the NAIA Football Championship Series in 2008. Jones came to Shorter from NCAA Division I-AA Gardner-Webb University where he was the assistant head coach. Jones has also been an assistant coach at Southern Methodist University and the University of Georgia. Prior to his collegiate coaching career, Jones was a high school football coach in the state of Georgia for 29 years.

Edge and Foster were mentioned earlier as the two top runners for Shorter, but the Hawks are very deep when it comes to running backs. In fact, 15 players have touched the ball in the running game and six of those rushers have over 150 yards rushing each so far this season.

The Hawks only throw the football to keep the opposing defense honest and in six games quarterback Ben Williams has only attempted 42 passes completing 13 of them. He does have a touchdown pass and has been intercepted four times in 2010. Williams averages just 23.8 yards per game through the air. Shorter's leading receiver is Brandon Morton who has made four catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. T.C. Jay has caught three passes for 65 yards.

Linebacker Garrett Hochstetler is Shorter's leading tackler on defense with 35 total stops this season. Cornerback Mason Strickland is a close second by Hochstetler with 34 total tackles. Cornerback Austin Ingram has 23 tackles and leads the Hawks in interceptions with two. As a team, Shorter has 10 interceptions, but has had trouble getting pressure on the quarterback with only three team sacks.

Saturday's kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 PM CDT 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.