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Jackson, MS-The Belhaven football team won a 41-34 shootout against Louisiana College on Saturday night at H.T. Newell Field in their home opener of the 2010 season. It took some last second heroics on the part of Blazer quarterback Alex Williams and wide receiver Kevin Dizer who hauled in an eight yard touchdown pass with 34 seconds on the clock to finally secure the victory.

Belhaven had built a 17-0 lead in the first half only to see the Wildcats fight back in the second half to even the score at 34-34 with 3:27 remaining in the contest. The Blazers then went 65 yards in eight plays with the drive culminating on the game winning touchdown by Dizer. The second half was a track meet as neither defense could stop the opposing offense. Both teams combined to run 147 plays and rack up 885 yards of total offense.

Belhaven took the early advantage with 11:48 left in the first quarter on two yard touchdown run by running back Barry Johnson. The drive went 73 yards in seven plays resulting in a Belhaven 7-0 lead. For Johnson, it was his first touchdown of the 2010 season. Kyle Henry was the next Blazer to find the end zone this time on an end around play extending the lead to 14-0. The touchdown was set up by Craig McDonald's first interception of the year which he returned 30 yards to the Wildcat 22 yard line giving Belhaven excellent field position to begin the drive.

The Blazers then added a 35 yard James “Bo” Bryan field goal early in the second quarter running the lead to 17-0. Neither team would score until late in the second half as Louisiana College was finally able to get some points on the board. Ben McLaughlin tossed the first of four touchdown passes on the night when he found Cortland Bell open in the end zone from 15 yards out with 35 seconds to go in the first half. The drive went 77 yards in nine plays and was set up after Belhaven receiver Justin Kenyon was stripped of the football after having hauled in a 35 yard reception. The late first half score by the Wildcats put them right back in the game and gave them some momentum going into halftime after the Blazers dominated the majority of the opening 30 minutes.

Belhaven's defense came up big in the early moments of the third quarter as linebacker Billy Hammer stripped the football from Chad Hindman and scampered 21 yards the other way for a touchdown and with the extra point by Bryan the Blazers appeared to be in control once again at 24-7. However, Louisiana College came back with 12 unanswered points on a one yard McLoughlin run and a 21 yard McLoughlin pass to Hindman to make it 24-19. The Wildcats were unsuccessful on both point after tries thanks to a McDonald blocked extra point and a failed two point conversion.

With 9:36 to go in the game, Belhaven worked the ball deep into Wildcat territory and Bryan made good on a 26 yard field to push the Blazer lead up to eight points at 27-19. Louisiana College answered the field goal by Bryan with a four play 56 yard drive which was capped off by a 25 yard touchdown pass from McLoughlin to Dayne Reeves who got behind the Belhaven defense for the score. The two point conversion was good and all of a sudden the game was deadlocked at 27-27 with only 7:43 remaining in the game.

The Blazer offense recovered quickly and recaptured the edge on the very next drive. The Blazers cruised down the field going 77 yards in 2:33 and needed only six plays to take it to the house. Dizer caught a pass from Williams and made a couple of great moves going 29 yards for the touchdown on play six of the drive. The extra point by Bryan put the lead back up to seven points at 34-27, but there was still plenty of time for the Wildcats to mount another drive and that's exactly what they did. In fact, they went 68 yards in 1:22 with the big play being a 38 yard touchdown pass from McLaughlin to his All-American receiver Jordan Rideaux to knot the contest at 34-34.

Following a 16 yard kickoff return by Lamar Truman which put the ball on Belhaven's own 35 yard line, the Blazers had 3:20 to try and get something going. Williams marched the Belhaven offense down the field and made some key completions to Truman and Douglas Ash setting up a second and goal situation at the eight yard line. Louisiana College took a time out to stop the clock giving time for Belhaven to draw up the Williams to Dizer touchdown pass to win the game 41-34. Williams was six for six on the drive and executed the “Two Minute” offense to perfection.

“This was a great team win,” said Belhaven Head Coach Joe Thrasher. “It was a hard fought game and I thought we grew up as a team tonight. Alex Williams showed great leadership and proved he is growing at the quarterback position. The defense came up big in the end to secure the victory. I thank God for this team and the way they kept fighting.”

Williams completed 31 of 42 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, he did not throw any interceptions and for the season and has five touchdown passes and only one interception through the first two games of 2010. Williams not only made it happen with his arm, he also ran for 73 yards and was the Blazers leading rusher on the night averaging 7.3 yards per carry. Johnson carried the ball 14 times for 52 yards and a touchdown. Johnson caught a team high 10 passes out of the backfield for 79 yards while Kenyon snared four passes for 67 yards. Dizer caught four balls for 55 yards and had the final two touchdowns of the night.

As a team, Belhaven had 449 yards of total offense with 317 coming through the air and 132 on the ground. The Blazers hurt themselves at times with penalties committing 12 in the game for 105 yards. However, Belhaven forced four turnovers including three interceptions and a fumble recovery. The Blazers went five for five in the Red Zone and won the time of possession battle at 32:10.

On defense, Hammer and Marquis Browdy had 13 total tackles while Michael Johnsa recorded 11 tackles in the game. Hammer had the fumble return for a touchdown while Browdy, Johnsa, and McDonald all had interceptions. Jonathan Gamberi tallied a sack and Jack Hayes had a half sack, two tackles for a loss and a couple of pass break ups. Jarrard Sterling and Jerien Cole broke up three McLoughlin passes in the game.

For Louisiana College, McLaughlin completed 28 of 49 pass attempts for 290 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. Rideaux caught five passes for 69 yards and one touchdown. Reeves, Bell, and Hindman had the other touchdown catches for the Wildcats. Cerderrick Tyson was the leading rusher for Louisiana College with 53 yards on six carries. As a team, the Wildcats had 436 yards of total offense. Defensively, Nate Janzen had 18 tackles and a fumble recovery followed by Richard Logan and Taylor Cottano with eight tackles apiece.

Belhaven will hit the road again next week as they travel to Clinton for a showdown with the Mississippi College Choctaws who opened the season on Saturday night with a 27-23 win over Millsaps. The kickoff is slated for 6:00 PM and all the play-by-play action can be heard via Stretch Internet through the Belhaven Athletics website beginning with the pregame show at 5:45 PM.