Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.-The Belhaven football team remained perfect at home on the season thanks to a 34-21 upset win over 14th ranked Cumberland University (TN) in a Mid-South Conference West Division battle on Saturday at H.T. Newell Field. The Blazers are now 5-0 at home this season.

Belhaven (5-5, 3-3 MSC) took it on the chin early in the first quarter when sophomore running back James McClain caught a 65 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Reed Gurchiek to make it a 7-0 game. The Bulldogs were able to move the ball with ease on the drive that covered 90 yards in just six plays. 

Belhaven got on the board with a 35 yard field goal from junior kicker James Bryan to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 3:32 to play in the first quarter. The drive was the first of four on the afternoon that covered 60 plus yards and it helped get the offense going.

The field goal by Bryan would be the first three points in a string of 34 unanswered that Belhaven would put on the board. Following Bryan's field goal, Kylan Pollard caught a 23 yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Alex Williams with 10:38 to play in the second quarter. The defense halted the Cumberland offense on a fourth down and eight play at the Blazers 23 which setup the touchdown drive that went 77 yards in eight plays.

Bryan added his second field of the game from 26 yards out with just under two minutes to play in the half. Belhaven took advantage of a Cumberland fumble as Reese Unger stripped McClain of the ball at the Belhaven 25 yard line setting up the three pointer to make it 13-7.

The Bulldogs made another costly mistake late in the second quarter when punter Tyler Emmetts mishandled a good snap and had to fall on the football at his on 32 turning it back over to Belhaven. The Blazers did not waste the opportunity and in just three plays were back in the end zone with 14 seconds to spare in the half. Clinton Smith took it to the house on a quick screen pass from Alex Williams and weaved through multiple Cumberland defenders for the score.

Belhaven added to their 20-7 halftime lead with a Pollard eight yard jaunt late in the third quarter which capped off an eight play 80 yard drive that took 3:14 off the clock extending the lead to 27-7.

Belhaven's defense stepped up big again and stonewalled the Bulldog offense on the doorstep of the Blazers giving the offense the ball back at the five yard line. Justin Gordon and Craig McDonald along with Ricky Wadlington blew up the sweep around the right end. It didn't take long for Belhaven to put the finishing touches on the afternoon going 95 yards in just four plays. Junior running back Justin Gaines reeled off a 28 yard run and Pollard caught a 27 yard pass to setup up the touchdown. The Bulldogs also gave Belhaven 30 yards on a pair of 15 yard penalties. Gaines was rewarded with the ball on the final play of the drive as he powered it in from three yards out for his 12th rushing touchdown of the year. At that point, the scoreboard read 34-7 with 9:17 to play in the fourth quarter.

Cumberland (7-2, 4-1 MSC) picked up a pair of fourth quarter scores on a 22 yard interception return by Chris Simpson with 4:52 to go. Then backup quarterback Broc Lovless tossed a touchdown pass to Dillon Kirkham with 50 seconds to play. The Bulldogs onside kick attempt went out of bounds and the Blazers ran the final 50 seconds off the clock to secure the 34-21.

Gaines had another big game this week rambling for 153 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. Gaines averaged 6.4 yards per carry on the day and helped the offense produce 198 rushing yards. Gaines now has 923 yards rushing on the season and needs 77 yards next week to become just the second 1,000 yard single season rusher in the history of the Belhaven football program. Johnny Horne was the last Blazer to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a season which he accomplished in 1999.

Through the air, Williams completed 11 of 17 passes for 164 yards and two TD's while throwing two interceptions. Pollard made seven catches for 132 yards and a touchdown and also ran in another TD. Belhaven ended the day with 415 yards of total offense and dominated time of possession controlling the ball for 35:21. The Blazers were also perfect in the Red-Zone going scoring fives time on five trips inside the 20 yard line.

Defensively, freshman corner Justin Gordon shined in his first start making 13 tackles including 2.5 for a loss. Craig McDonald had 11 tackles on the day with a forced fumble and fumble recovery. Stephen Miner and Ricky Wadlington had eight tackles and Wadlington picked up 1.5 more tackles for a loss giving him 18 on the year. As a team, Belhaven forced two turnovers and stopped Cumberland on downs three times in the game which led to 24 points.

Lemeco Miller carried the ball nine times for Cumberland and picked up 77 yards to lead the Bulldogs. Adrian Baker took eight handoffs and picked up 60 yards on the afternoon. Quarterback Reed Gurchiek completed 8 of 16 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown and McClain led all Bulldog receivers with five receptions for 98 yards a score. The Bulldogs had 366 yards of total offense with 234 coming on the ground.

Linebacker Ben Miller paced the Cumberland defense with 11 tackles with one going for a loss. Stephon Ransom had nine tackles and Chris Simpson and Josh Walker both had interceptions.

“I thought we showed a lot of heart and toughness today,” said Belhaven Head Coach Joe Thrasher. “After a rough game at Cumberlands (KY) last week, our guys stayed with it and didn't give up. We have played great at home this season and that was the case once again today. Our defense made some big plays on the goal line and created a couple of key turnovers. Justin Gaines turned in another big day for us on offense and because of that we were able to control the clock. Alex (Williams) and Jimmy (Basford) both made some good plays at the quarterback position as well and Pollard came up with big catches all afternoon. This was definitely and big team victory for us today.”

Belhaven will wrap up the 2011 season next Saturday when they host 4th ranked Georgetown College in an MSC cross divisional game at H.T. Newell Field starting at 1:30 PM.