Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven football team withstood a late comeback bid by Union College (KY) Saturday afternoon and held on for a 20-14 Mid-South Conference West Division victory in the annual Homecoming game at H.T. Newell Field. The Blazers had built a 20-0 lead through three quarters after erupting for 17 points in the third to take what looked like a commanding edge. However, the Bulldogs scored 14 fourth quarter points and had the ball at the Belhaven 17 yard line with less than a minute left with a chance to get the win.

Belhaven's DeAndre Wood picked off a pass and took a knee at the one yard line with 22 seconds left and then Blazer quarterback Alex Williams recovered his own fumble at the one yard line to preserve the win as time ran out. Belhaven's defense and special teams came up big as Rashad Wynes returned a punt for 95 yards for a touchdown and defensive back Shannon Lucas returned an interception for a score from 55 yards away. Kicker James Bryan hit field goals of 32 and 45 yards for the other Blazer scores.

“I'm proud of how we played today especially our defense and special teams,” said Belhaven Head Coach Joe Thrasher. Wynes punt return really got us going and Lucas's interception turned out to be a pivotal play as well. Bryan hit two key field goals for us and had another outstanding day on kickoffs. I can't say enough about our defense and how they performed stopping Union on three fourth down plays and holding them to 3 of 15 on third down.”

The first of Bryan's two field goals on the day capped the first Blazer drive that lasted 11 plays and covered 57 yards taking 5:10 off the clock. Belhaven (4-4, 2-2 MSC West) converted on fourth and 5 at the Union 43 yard line on a fake punt as punter Robby Robinson hit wide receiver Clinton Smith on a 26 yard pass that moved the ball to the 17 to keep the drive alive and set up the score.

Belhaven's three pointer would prove to be the only scoring for either team in the first half. Union (2-6, 1-2 MSC) had a couple of potential scoring chances go by the boards when kicker Chad Boyington missed a 37 yard field goal wide left with 2:33 to play in the second quarter. The Bulldogs then got to the Blazers 30 yard line, but an incomplete pass by Ryan Moses on fourth down brought the drive to an end.

In the third quarter, Wynes electrified the crowd with his 95 yard punt return for a touchdown giving the Blazers a 10-0 lead with 11:34 to go in the quarter. The punt by Boyington traveled 52 yards, but the return team delivered some outstanding blocks setting up a wall for Wynes as he went down the left sideline for the score. Wynes just missed the NAIA national record for the longest punt return by two yards. Ron Fuller of Evangel holds the record of 97 yards which he set against Missouri Southern in 1981. Wynes return was the longest in Belhaven's history.

Bryan tacked on three more points with 3:40 to play in the third quarter drilling a 45 yard field goal that cemented a 12 play 40 yard drive that started at the Belhaven 32 after the Bulldogs failed to convert on a fourth down and 15. Justin Gaines had a run of 14 yards and eight yards to setup the score. Union also had a costly offside penalty on a third down play to help keep the drive alive. Williams had thrown an incompletion on third and six, but the penalty gave the Blazers another chance on third and one and Gaines moved the chains with a two yard run.

Belhaven struck again less than a minute later when Lucas picked off Moses at the Blazer 45 yard line and returned it 55 yards the other way for the score to make it a 20-0 game. However, Union would not go quietly as the Bulldogs took over possession of the ball at their own 20 with six seconds left in the third quarter following a missed field goal by Bryan and went 80 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. Moses found Tyler Ross on a four yard pass to make it a 20-7 game with 11:03 to go.

Then with 5:19 remaining, Moses tossed another touchdown pass, this time finding Domonique Jefferson from five yards out for the score. The Bulldogs went 78 yards in five plays and took just 1:43 off the clock. Moses had completions of 28 and 44 yards to setup the TD. The Bulldogs found themselves with the ball again just 47 seconds later when Zach Eagler stripped the ball from Gaines and Union recovered the fumble at their 36 with 4:32 left to play and two timeouts. Belhaven's defense held strong and forced a punt by Union that gave the Blazers the ball back at their 20 yard line.

Unfortunately, Belhaven could not pick up a first down as the Bulldog defense held strong and gave the offense another chance with one minute left. Union setup shop on the Belhaven 44 after a 33 yard punt and in two plays were on the Blazers doorstep at the 17 yard line. On a second and six play, Union just missed taking the lead when Sterlin James came down with the ball out of bounds next to the end zone. On the next play, Wood came up with the interception and Belhaven was able to run out the clock to ice the game.

Williams led Belhaven's offense completing 19 of 30 passes for 170 yards on the afternoon. Williams was sacked six times by a tough Union defense. Running back Justin Gaines carried the ball 19 times for 87 yards and Kylan Pollard came up with six catches for 58 yards. Smith had four receptions for 56 yards and Justin Kenyon reeled in four catches for 42 yards.

Defensively for Belhaven, Ryan Rice had 12 total tackles, including three for a loss, followed by Dewayne Whitten with 11 and Craig McDonald had 10. Ricky Wadlington brought down nine Union ball carriers and had one sack and 3.5 tackles for a loss. Lucas and Wood each had INT's for Belhaven. Josh Herring, and Tre' Lansing each came up with the other two Blazer sacks on the day.

Union was paced by quarterback Ryan Moses who completed 24 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked three times and threw two INT's. Rob Brown ran the ball 17 times for 81 yards and Sterlin James made five catches for 96 yards. The Bulldogs offense outgained Belhaven with 435 total yards compared to 259 by the Blazers, but the plays on defense and special teams by Belhaven were the difference.

Union's defense was led by Jacob Crothers with nine tackles followed by William Roundtree with eight. Isiah Anderson had six tackles and three sacks on the afternoon.

Belhaven will be back in action next Saturday as they head to the University of the Cumberlands for a MSC West Division game beginning at 12:30 PM.