Lebanon, TN-The Belhaven football team will hit the road for their final Mid-South Conference West Division game of the season on Saturday to take on Cumberland University. The Blazers enter the game with an overall record of 4-5 and 1-4 in the conference after snapping a four game losing streak last weekend at home thanks to a 24-21 over the University of the Cumberlands. Belhaven held off a late Cumberlands drive as defensive linemen Baqui Thomas got a piece of a potential game tying field goal from Patriot place kicker Justin Dyer sending the ball short and wide to the left with two seconds left in the game to secure the win.

Cumberland enters Saturday's contest with an overall record of 7-2 and 3-1 in the MSC West. The Bulldogs have won their last two games against Union and Bethel after having suffered an upset loss to Faulkner University on October 16th. Cumberland, who is ranked 18th in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, is tied with the University of the Cumberlands for first place in the West Division.

The Belhaven and Cumberland head to head series is tied at 6-6 with the Blazers knotting the series last season with a 7-6 win over the Bulldogs in overtime on October 24th. In a game characterized by defense, neither team could muster any points through the first four quarters of the game although both teams had a chance at field goals in the fourth quarter. Josh Smith missed a 27 yarder for Cumberland with 6:25 to play in the fourth and Belhaven kicker Justin Miller pushed one just wide from 33 yards out with 61 seconds left in the contest. Each team scored a touchdown in overtime as Cumberland got the ball and scored first, but went for two and missed. On Belhaven's possession running back Ricardo Bolton caught an 11 yard pass from Jerred Wallace for the score. Miller hit the extra point to give the Blazers the win.

THE BELHAVEN REPORT:
In last week's win over Cumberlands Michael Pettus led the Belhaven ground assault carrying the ball 13 times for 70 yards and two touchdowns. Pettus has come on strong in the last few games and now has three touchdowns while averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Alex Williams got back on track throwing the football after a tough game the previous week at Union completing 29 passes on 46 attempts for 317 yards and a touchdown boosting his touchdown total to 19 in 2010. More importantly he did not throw an interception in Saturday's win which has hurt him in a couple of games this season.

Cordario Calvin was Williams's favorite target as he reeled in 14 passes for 171 yards. Kevin Dizer hauled in four catches for 59 yards while Harvey Mitchell caught three balls for 19 yards and a score. As a team, Belhaven had 424 yards of total offense and owned the time of possession battle 35:04 to 24:56. The Blazers were 8 of 18 on third down conversions and two of three on fourth down conversions. Belhaven was three of six in red zone scoring opportunities on Saturday afternoon.

On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Ricky Wadlington added 10 more tackles to his season total giving him a team high 85 this season. He also 1.5 tackles for a loss and now has 8.5 in 2010. Wadlington is 16th in the NAIA in tackles per game (9.4) and second in the Mid-South Conference for that same category. Trevor Butts had nine tackles and two tackles for a loss followed by Chad Smith with six tackles on the afternoon. Safety Craig McDonald had four tackles with 2.5 for a loss and his second interception in 2010. Johnathan Gamberi and Dirkyle Hall combined on a sack while Donnie Hamilton also picked off his second pass of the year.

The Belhaven offense will face a four man front for the first time in a few weeks this weekend. The Cumberland defense is very formidable ranked 6th in the NAIA in total defense per game (257.6 yards per game). The Bulldogs lead the MSC in total defense and only allow 16.4 points per game. They also put a lot of pressure on the quarterback as evidenced by their 28 sacks so far this season. Something will have to give this weekend as the Blazers bring in the 4th ranked offense in the MSC when it comes to total offense per game (413.2 yards). Belhaven is the third best passing offense in the league behind only Georgetown College and Pikeville College at 271.1 yards per outing.

The Belhaven defense will see a familiar look on offense with Cumberland's wing-t option offense although Cumberland may be the most balanced between the run and the pass compared to previous teams. The Bulldogs rushed for 216 yards and passed for 193 in their win over Union College. Cumberland ran the ball 50 times and put it in the air 25 times with 18 of those throws going for completions. The Bulldogs only average 24.2 points per game which is 11th in the MSC, but with an outstanding defense it takes some of the pressure off the offense to score a lot of points. The Bulldogs are a ball control offense and their average time of possession per game is 32:47. Last week against Union, Cumberland held the ball for 36:45 and ran 75 plays compared to 50 by Union.

THE CUMBERLAND REPORT:
Cumberland is led by Head Coach Dewayne Alexander who enters his fifth season as not only the head coach, but also the offensive coordinator. Alexander is 25-26 heading into the game this weekend and is 14-11 in Mid-South conference contests. Alexander was at Wilson Central High School in Tennessee prior to his tenure at Cumberland. He has also spent time as player and an assistant coach at NCAA Division I-AA Tennessee Tech University.

The Bulldog ground game is bolstered by halfback Lemeco Miller who averages 60.8 yards rushing per game. Miller has three rushing touchdowns on the season to go along with a pair of touchdown catches. Miller is also the teams leading receiver with a 33 yards per game average. Fullback Tim McCord is averaging 47.5 yards per game on the ground and has a couple of touchdowns in 2010. At the right halfback position Kwamane Howard will also see some touches and comes into the weekend averaging 25.4 yards per game with one score.

Tight end Mitch Reynolds will be someone to keep an eye on in the passing game for Cumberland along with the right half back Miller. Reynolds is averaging 32 yards per game receiving and has three touchdown receptions so far this year. Reynolds caught three passes for 31 yards in last season's meeting with Belhaven. Wide receiver Zack Ducker may also see some balls thrown his way this weekend. Ducker has 15 catches for 155 yards and averages 17.2 yards per game.

Curt Bureau will get the start at quarterback this week for the Bulldogs although this will be just his fifth start this year. Bureau is averaging 218 yards per game through the air and has four touchdown passes compared to only four interceptions. Bureau also boasts a completion percentage of 61 percent and efficiency rating of 129.63. Backing up Bureau will be Christian Burnett who has played in six games and started four. Burnett has tossed five touchdowns, but has also thrown five interceptions.

On defense, Cumberland has some of the best linebackers in the Mid-South conference. All three starters have at least 57 tackles. Stephon Ranson leads the Bulldog 4-3 defense with 66 total stops, has 8.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks and a pair of interceptions. Ben Miller is not far behind with 62 tackles including a team high 10 tackles for a loss plus two sacks. Todd Holman has 57 tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, and two interceptions.

Defensive end Melvin Armstrong anchors the front four with 46 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, and a team best 5.5 sacks. In the secondary, cornerback Chris Simpson has 40 tackles and three interceptions with one returned for a touchdown. On the other side of the field Allante McLemore has 39 tackles and three interceptions including two that were returned for scores. As a team, Cumblerand has 75 tackles for a loss, 28 sacks, and 14 interceptions in nine games this year.

Saturday's kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 PM and all the play-by-play action can be heard through the Cumberland athletics website. The live audio and live stats page can be accessed by clicking here.