Jackson, MS-The Belhaven football team is riding high as they roll into to H.T. Newell Field for their home opener Saturday against Louisiana College. The Blazers manhandled Texas College 58-3 on the road last week to kickoff the 2010 campaign. The game was dominated from start to finish by Belhaven who controlled both sides of the ball the entire night. Last season the Blazers got off to a rocky start losing their first two games out of the gate and hope that this year will be different as they look for win number two of the year against Louisiana College Saturday night.

Louisiana College will open their season against Belhaven and are coming off a very solid 7-3 finish in 2009. The Wildcats are members of NCAA Division III and call the American Southwest Conference home. At one time, Louisiana College was part of the NAIA and the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference prior to joining the NCAA. Saturday's game will be the third meeting between the two schools and the first since 2003 when Belhaven prevailed 48-7. The Wildcats got the better of the Blazers in 2002 by a final of 49-21. The All-Time series heading into Saturday night stands at 1-1.

THE BELHAVEN REPORT
Belhaven rolled up 462 yards of total offense while holding the Texas College Steers to only 59 total yards in last Saturday's season opener. The Blazers had three rushing touchdowns on the night which matched their season total from a year ago. Overall, it was a balanced attack on the offensive side of the ball with 172 yards coming on the ground and 290 through the air. The Belhaven defense was also not to be outdone as they shut down the Steers offense holding them to 52 total yards.

Alex Williams led the Belhaven offense completing 15 of his 30 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns. Cordario Calvin had five catches for 75 yards and two scores while Henry caught three passes for 69 yards and a touchdown. Chatman led the Belhaven ground attack carrying the ball six times for 88 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 14.7 yards per carry with a long run of 54 yards. Williams and Calvin accounted for the other two rushing touchdowns in the game.

On defense, Craig McDonald had a monster game with eight total tackles including three for a loss. He also forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and assisted on a sack. The Blazers were very effective at bringing pressure from the secondary the entire night wrecking havoc in the Steer backfield. John Harper also played well for Belhaven collecting seven total tackles while Micahel Sellers had 1.5 sacks in the game. As a team, Belhaven had four sacks and 16 tackles for a loss Saturday night.

Belhaven will face a high powered offense on Saturday night if last season's stats are any indication of what the Wildcats will bring to the table. Louisiana College averaged 38.8 points per game in 2009 and racked up nearly 428 yards of total offense per game. Belhaven will have to be ready for the spread offense on Saturday and on defense the Wildcats will show a four man front against Belhaven's spread formations.

THE LOUISIANA COLLEGE REPORT:
Louisiana College is led by Head Coach Dennis Dunn who is in his fifth season at the helm of the Wildcats. Dunn's record at Louisiana College is 23-16 and including the 7-3 finish in 2009. The Wildcats will return three big weapons on offense from a season ago. Senior quarterback Ben McLaughlin will be back after an impressive 2009 season. McLaughlin completed just over 63 percent of his passes and fired 27 touchdowns compared to only 10 interceptions. McLaughlin completed 228 passes for an average of 282.3 yards per game through the air last year and had an efficiency rating of 147.99.

McLaughlin's favorite target also returns and hopes to pick up right where he left off following last season. Wide Receiver Jordan Rideaux had 78 receptions for 1,157 yards and 11 touchdowns in 10 games for the Wildcats in 2009. He also averaged 14.8 yards per catch and made his presence known on special teams returning a punt and kickoff return for touchdowns. Back to anchor the ground game for Louisiana College is senior Chad Hindman who led the team in rushing yards with 487 and touchdowns with four.

On defense, the Blazers will have to keep an eye on four key returners for Louisiana College. Up front senior defensive end Robert Wilson will look to disrupt the Belhaven offense. Wilson had 25 tackles, two sacks, broke up a pair of passes and recovered a fumble in 2009. At linebacker, senior Taylor Cottano is back after leading the team in tackles with 64 last season. He also came up with an interception and tallied 1.5 sacks. In the secondary, junior DeMel Dumas and sophomore Reggie Calhoun are looking to get this year off to a good start after turning in solid seasons in 2009. Calhoun had 39 total tackles and had a team high five interceptions. He also broke up 13 passes and always seems to be around the football. Dumas had 28 total tackles last year with two interceptions and six pass breakups. As a team, Louisiana College gave up 25.9 points per game and 346.3 yards per contest to their opponents in 2009.

All the action of Saturday night's game can be heard via Stretch Internet through the Belhaven Athletics website starting with the pregame show at 6:45 PM followed by the kickoff at 7:00 PM. Fans can also follow along with live stats thanks to Game Central by Stretch Internet which is your one stop shop for live coverage of Belhaven football. Game Central can be accessed by clicking here.