Barbourville, KY-The Belhaven football, in the midst of a three game losing skid, will try and right the ship on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Union College (KY) for a Mid-South Conference West division matchup. The Blazers enter the game with an overall record of 3-4 and 0-3 in the MSC. Belhaven lost a heartbreaker last week at home to Shorter University 25-24. After falling behind for the first time in the game with 1:53 left in the fourth quarter, the Blazers mounted a last minute drive moving the ball into the field goal range at the Hawk's 14 yard line. Unfortunately, James Bryan's 31 yard field goal attempt went wide right as time expired allowing Shorter to escape with the win.

Union enters Saturday's contest with an overall record of 4-3 and 1-1 in the MSC West. The Bulldogs have won their last two games including last week's 44-14 win over Lindsey Wilson College. The week before, Union was involved in an 84-55 track meet against Bethel University that saw the Bulldogs come out on top in a record setting contest. Union's other two wins were against Virginia-Wise and Kentucky Christian University.

Belhaven leads the all-time series with Union 5-4 and added their fifth victory over the Bulldogs last year in the final week of the season. The Blazers prevailed 37-31 in OT and the win secured a 6-5 season for Belhaven. Belhaven quarterback Jerred Wallace hit wide receiver Kevin Dizer in the end zone from 14 yards out for what would be the game winner OT. The Belhaven defense held the Bulldogs on their overtime possession when Craig McDonald broke up a Mike Brinkley pass on fourth down and 12 to end the game.

THE BELHAVEN REPORT:
In last week's loss to Shorter, running back Barry Johnson led the Belhaven offense carrying the ball 19 times for 122 yards and averaged 6.4 yards per carry. D'Ambro Chatman had 36 yards rushing and a touchdown while quarterback Alex Williams and Michael Pettus followed with 18 and 15 yards respectively. As a team, Belhaven amassed 399 yards of total offense with 190 of them coming on the ground. The Blazers also led in time of possession 35:28 to 24:32 which is rare especially against a good running team like Shorter.

Williams completed 18 of his 32 pass attempts for 206 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked once and threw a pair of interceptions. Williams is eighth in the NAIA in total offense and total passing at 2,028 yards and 1,832 in that order following the Shorter game. Kevin Dizer led Belhaven in receiving making five catches for 101 yards. Cordario Calvin had five receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Belhaven linebacker Ricky Wadlington made 12 total tackles followed by Craig McDonald with nine and Javian Johnson with eight. Wadlington leads the MSC in both total tackles and tackles per game with 65 and 9.3 respectively. Chad Smith ended the game with six tackles and Michael Johnsa along with Jack Hayes chipped in with five. Hayes added another tackle for a loss and has a team high 11 this season. Dewayne Whitten generated the only sack for the Blazers and had three total tackles.

The Belhaven offense will face a 3-3-5 defense from Union this week and have faced a three man front for the last three games. Belhaven has been very effective running the football especially in the last couple of games. Against Shorter, Belhaven ran the ball 43 times for 190 yards compared to just 32 pass attempts. The Blazers could potentially have another big game on the ground as Union is 13th out of 14 teams against the run this season. The Bulldogs are giving up 228.7 rushing yards per game in 2010. However, Union is very good at defending the pass allowing just 145.1 yards per game through the air. Turnovers have played a major role in each of Belhaven's games this year and cutting down on the mistakes will certainly be a key again this week.

The Belhaven defense will have the task of slowing down one of the strongest offenses in the Mid-South Conference. Union is second in the conference in points per game (43.4), total offense (504.3 YPG) and rushing yards per game (272.9). The Bulldogs are third in the NAIA in rushing offense and fall just behind Shorter in that category when it comes to the conference and national rankings. Shorter averages 275 yards per game rushing after going for 280 yards last week against Belhaven. The Blazers defense is second in the MSC allowing 337.3 yards per game while giving up 26.9 points per contest. The Bulldog offensive scheme is a more traditional pro-set with a tailback, fullback, two wide receivers, and a tight end.

THE UNION REPORT:
The Bulldogs are led by Tommy Reid who is in his ninth season as the Head Coach at Union. Reid has been with the program for 15 years and began coaching at Union in 1996 as a graduate assistant. Prior to being named the head coach he served as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Reid was a three year starter for Glenville State and led his team to the NAIA national championship game in 1993.

Union has a very potent offense which is led by running back Armond Smith who is tops in the Mid-South Conference when it comes to total rushing yards (841) and yards per game on the ground (120.1). Smith also has racked up nine touchdowns in seven games played this season and his 841 yards is fifth best in the country.

The Bulldogs not only can run the ball, but they can put it in the air as well. Union's quarterback Mike Brinkley has put up some impressive numbers this season completing 88 passes for 1,506 with 16 touchdowns. Brinkley is fourth in the conference in passing yards per game at 215.1.

Brinkley's favorite targets this season have been tight end Sean Mackey and wide receiver Demetrius Hicks. Mackey has caught 25 passes for 430 and nine touchdowns. Hick has grabbed 17 passes for 493 yards and four scores. Hicks is Union's big play receiver as he averages 29 yards per catch heading into the matchup with Belhaven. Look for P.J. Burrowes and Rob Brown to see some balls thrown their way as well.

On defense, linebacker Zach Eagler owns 50 total tackles which is tops on the team. He also has an interception, forced fumble, and a fumble return of 71 yards. Linebacker Brad Fulton also has a nose for the football with 44 tackles and a sack in 2010. Defensive end Elisee Pomplus has registered a team high four sacks and six tackles for a loss to go along with 21 total tackles. The secondary is anchored by Cordaryl Strickland who has three interceptions and four passes defended this season.

Saturday's kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 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 12:15 PM. The live audio page can be accessed by clicking here.