Box Score
McKenzie, TN-The Belhaven football team suffered their second consecutive loss Saturday night in a Mid-South Conference matchup at Bethel University by the final of 28-17. The Blazers owned a 17-3 lead at halftime, but the Wildcats scored 25 unanswered points for the come from behind win.

Belhaven (2-3, 0-1 MSC) had one of their best drives of the season on the opening possession of the night as the offense marched 73 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown. Justin Gaines capped the drive with his ninth rushing touchdown of the year. Bethel (4-1, 2-0 MSC) answered with three points late in the first quarter on a field goal by Tim Donegan to cut the Blazer lead to 7-3.

With 13:26 remaining in the half, kicker James Bryan extended the lead back to seven points at 10-3 thanks to his third field goal of the season which came from 25 yards away. It finished off a four play 50 yard drive by the Blazers. Late in the second quarter, quarterback Alex Williams found wide out Kylan Pollard for a 25 yard touchdown strike with 3:03 to go until the break making the score 17-3.

Unfortunately, Pollard's TD catch would be the final points of the night for Belhaven. Bethel dominated the second half and finally got things going when Dominque Allen ran the ball to the end zone from two yards out. Donegan's extra point attempt was no good and the score at that point was 17-9 with 8:15 to go in the third quarter. Allen's touchdown was setup on a blocked punt that gave the Wildcats excellent field position at the Belhaven 33 yard line to begin the drive.

Two minutes later, the Wildcats were back in the end zone and this time it was quarterback Will Masoud using his feet to put six more points on the board. Trailing 17-15, Bethel went for two and the conversion failed allowing Belhaven to maintain the slight edge. However, the lead did not last long as Robby Phillips put the Wildcats in front for good on a 31 yard field goal with a minute to play in the third quarter. Phillips came in to kick after Donegan had missed three previous field goal attempts and an extra point.

Phillips went on to add another three pointer with 3:33 to play and then Bethel clinched the game on a Masoud one yard TD plunge with 1:45 to go. Masoud's second rushing touchdown of the night was setup on a Belhaven fumble that occurred on the kickoff which followed Phillips second field goal. The Wildcat defense shutdown one final Belhaven drive and the clock hit zero giving the Bethel the 28-17 win.

Belhaven was led by quarterback Aleax Williams who ran for 100 yards and passed for 231 yards on the night. He tossed one touchdown, but threw a pair of interceptions. Justin Gaines carried the ball 13 times for 85 yards and scored his 10th touchdown of the season. Kylan Pollard caught six passes for 94 yards and had one touchdown on the night. Octavious Truman led the team in total catches with seven for 80 yards. As a team, Belhaven generated 420 yards of total offense with 231 yard coming through the air and 189 on the ground.

Defensively, Ryan Rice led the way with a season high 12 tackles followed by Dewayne Whitten and Ricky Wadlington with eight apiece. Dirkyle Hall had six tackles and three went for a loss with one sack in the mix.

Cordarius Mann had 142 yards on 18 carries for Bethel and Will Masoud had 12 carries for 57 yards and two touchdowns. Massoud completed 9 of his 15 pass attempts for 91 yards. Massoud did the majority of his damage on the ground as he was successful eluding defenders and scrambling for yards the entire contest. Keenan Nance was Bethel's most productive receiver making two catches for 24 yards. The Wildcats generated 341 yards of total offense.

On defense, Bethel was paced by Will Henry who had seven tackles and an interception. Darian Jones tallied six tackles and Stayce Whipple made five stops and had a fumble recovery.

Belhaven will try and get back on track when they return home on Saturday to battle Faulkner University in another MSC West Division contest. Fans can follow all the action through live video, audio, and stats at blazers.belhaven.edu.