Georgetown, KY-The Belhaven football team hits the road for the second consecutive week and for the final time this season when they head to Georgetown College to meet up with the Tigers on Saturday. The Blazers had a hard time last week at Cumberland University on both sides of the ball in a 45-7 loss to the Bulldogs. The Belhaven offense was shut down and held to only 117 yards of total offense. The Cumberland offense racked up 401 total yards and had control of the ball for 37:07 in the game. The Blazers are 4-6 overall and 1-5 in the Mid-South Conference West Division as they head into their season finale with Georgetown.

 

Georgetown enters their final regular season game with an overall record of 7-2 and won the MSC East Division title with a perfect 6-0 in conference play. The Tigers have won their last six games including a 48-0 win over Lindsey Wilson College last week. Georgetown is ranked 18^th in the Latest NAIA Top 25 Poll and Saturday will be a big game for the Tigers as they hope to move up in the final poll and secure a spot in the NAIA Football Championship Series. The Tigers have not lost a game since September 25^th when they fell by one to Shorter University 47-46. Belhaven and Georgetown have met nine times over the years and the Blazers have yet to beat the Tigers. The two teams last met in 2006 with Georgetown prevailing 40-13.

 

Belhaven avoided the shutout last week on a four yard touchdown pass from Alex Williams to Kyle Henry with 5:58 to play. It was the best drive of the afternoon for the Blazers offense as Williams connected on five of his six pass attempts which moved the team 70 yards in six plays.

Williams led the Belhaven offense completing 19 of his 34 pass attempts for 148 yards and a touchdown which gives him 20 on the season. He also threw an interception and was sacked four times as the Bulldogs defense kept the pressure on all afternoon. Kyle Henry made four catches for 52 yards and a touchdown to lead the Belhaven receivers followed by Harvey Mitchell with five catches for 35 yards. D'Ambro Chatman was the leading rusher carrying the ball twice for eight yards. Cumberland halted the Blazer running attack that had been very effective this season limiting them to negative 31 yards.

A bright spot on defense for Belhaven was linebacker Ricky Wadlington who registered 13 more tackles last week and now has 98 on the season. He is just 13 more tackles away from tying the school single season tackles record which was set by Reginald Lumpkin last season. Wadlington leads the MSC in total tackles and is second in tackles per game at 9.8. Trevor Butts and Javian Johnson also notched 13 tackles each while Craig McDonald recorded 11 tackles last weekend.

 

The Belhaven offense will face another 3-4 defense this week in their matchup with Georgetown. The Tigers rank in the middle of the pack in the MSC in total defense per game (373.9 yards) at number seven. When it comes to allowing points, Georgetown is fourth in the MSC in scoring defense giving up 27.8 points per game which is a point better than the Belhaven defense. The key will be can the offense put last week's struggles behind them and get back on track Saturday. Despite the tough outing last week, Belhaven is still the third ranked passing offense in the MSC at 258.8 yards per game.

 

Georgetown's offense will present another major challenge for the Blazers defense who has been battling numerous injuries the last few games. The Tigers are first in scoring offense in the MSC at 51 points per game (2^nd in NAIA), lead the league in offensive yards per game at 504.8 (4^th in the NAIA), and have a conference best 292.3 yards per game average through the air. Georgetown is certainly not one dimensional because they can rush the football as well as evidenced by their 212.4 yards per game average which ranks them fifth in the MSC. Belhaven's defense has put up some solid numbers as the Blazers are second in the MSC in total defense at 351.3 yards per game. Belhaven has been good against the pass allowing opposing quarterbacks just 172.4 yards per game. The key will be to somehow slow down one of the nation's best passing attacks in Georgetown.

 

Georgetown is led by Head Coach Bill Cronin who is in his 14^th season at the helm of the Tiger program. Cronin has spent his entire career as a head coach at Georgetown and has amassed an overall record of 125-31. He has won two NAIA National Championships, has been NAIA National Runner Up twice, and has twice been named NAIA Coach of the Year.

 

Quarterback Kaelin Ammons is the key to the Georgetown offense and has put up some impressive numbers this year. Ammons has thrown for 2,487 yards, 31 touchdowns, and has only been intercepted six times in 2010. Ammons is averaging 276.3 yards per game through the air this year and leads the MSC in total offense per game at 298.7 yards.

 

Lining up with Ammons in the backfield will be fullback Bennett Gatto, wing back Blake Naylor, and wing back Adam Schmitz. Gatto leads the team in yards per game at 44.3 is averaging 5.9 yards per carry, and also has six rushing touchdowns. Naylor averages 36.2 yards per game and 6.4 yards per carry to go along with four touchdowns in 2010. Schmitz has one touchdown and a 22.3 yards per game average. Logan Osborne who is listed second on the depth chart at fullback will also see some touches Saturday. Osborne has six rushing touchdowns and averages 5.6 yards per carry this year.

 

The Tigers have a number of weapons at the receiver position with Chris Gohman leading with way with nine touchdowns and a 68.9 yards per game average. Coty Minnis has eight touchdown receptions while Naylor and Schmitz have both been effective catching the ball out of the backfield. Naylor averages 40.2 yards per game receiving with two touchdowns and Schmitz averages 28.4 yards per game and has three touchdowns in 2010.

 

On defense, Georgetown is led by Clay Brown with 50 total tackles and has one interception this season. Patrick VanSant has 44 tackles and a pair of picks for the Tigers. Defensive lineman Andrew Jones along with Zach Goebel pace Georgetown in tackles for a loss with eight while Goebel and Cody Williams have 3.5 sacks each. The Tigers as a team have accumulated 15 sacks in 2010.