Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven football team claimed their first victory over Mississippi College Saturday night 35-31 at H.T. Newell Field. The Blazers had been 0-3 against the Choctaws until Saturday night's win. The Blazers had to hold off the Choctaws who scored 14 unanswered points to pull to within four points early in the fourth quarter. Belhaven quarterback Alex Williams fumbled on the final play giving Mississippi College a chance to run it back, but the Choctaws were stopped on the Belhaven 25 in a wild finish to the game.

Mississippi College (1-1) jumped in front 7-0 on their second possession of the first quarter thanks to a five yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tommy Reyer to wide receiver Matt Burke. The Choctaws were setup in great field position after Mike Mitchell intercepted a Williams's pass in Blazer territory. Belhaven (2-1) picked themselves up and answered the Mississippi College score with one of their own to knot the game at 7-7. Williams moved the offense 66 yards in five plays with the touchdown coming on a pass to wide receiver Justin Kenyon from 15 yards out. Running back Justin Gaines also had some key rushes of 12, 14, 9, and 6 yards in the march down the field.

With 2:08 to play in the first quarter, the Choctaws inched back in front on a Chris Campbell 31 yard field goal to make it 10-7. Belhaven then grabbed the lead for the first time in the game with 9:18 to play until halftime. This time Williams ran it in from six yards out and the extra point by kicker James Bryan was good to make it 14-10. Belhaven was aided on the drive by a key pass interference penalty against Mississippi College on a third down play that extended the drive.

However, Belhaven did not have the lead for long as Reyer would find the end zone through the air again, this time the pass landed in the hands of Buford-Hughes for a 43 yard score. Belhaven could not score on their next two possessions and would eventually punt the ball back to the Choctaws with 15 seconds to go in the first half. Following two pass completions by Reyer that put the ball at the Choctaw 45, Mississippi College called for a timeout with two seconds to go in the half. In what very well was the play of the game for Belhaven, Reyer was picked off by Belhaven defensive back Justin Mims at the Blazer 26 and he took the ball back 74 yards for a touchdown sending the Belhaven into the locker room with a 21-17 lead.

Belhaven came out with the momentum on their side to start the third quarter and promptly put two more touchdowns on the board. The first was set up on a blocked punt by Clinton Smith as Craig McDonald picked up the loose ball and took it to the Choctaw 14 yard line. Two plays later, running back Justin Gaines took it in from five yards out extending the lead to 28-17 with 11:11 left to go in the third quarter. Just under five minutes later, Gaines went to the house again from two yards away and with the extra point it gave Belhaven a 35-17 lead. The touchdown capped a six play 54 yard drive.

Mississippi College did not back down and on the ensuing possession marched 70 yards in 11 plays to get back to within 11 points at 35-24 with 1:15 to go in the third quarter. Reyer called his own number and scampered three yards up the middle for a Choctaw touchdown. Then in the fourth quarter, Mississippi College linebacker Jeremy Bertrand picked off a Williams pass at the Choctaw 35 yard line. On a first and 10 play from the MC 46, Reyer connected on a 54 yard touchdown pass to Randal Pharr and with the extra point it all of a sudden it was just a 35-31 lead for the Blazers.

Belhaven's next to last possession of the game took 6:17 off the clock, but eventually they were forced to punt the ball back to Mississippi College with 1:42 to play. The Choctaws took over on their own 34 with a timeout to work with. However, the first pass of the series was picked off by defensive lineman Reese Unger at the 29. The Blazers took a knee on the next three snaps bringing up fourth down and 20 at the Choctaw 39. In an attempt to run out the clock, Williams retreated 31 yards and fumbled the football at the Belhaven 30 yard line, but fortunately for the Blazers the Choctaws could not score after picking up the loose ball as the game came to an end.

Williams saw his first action of the season under center for Belhaven and completed 10 of his 28 pass attempts for 144 yards and one touchdown. He also threw two interceptions and was sacked twice in the game. Gaines had a big night running the football taking 16 handoffs and turning them into 81 yards. He also had a pair of rushing touchdowns and caught two passes for nine yards. Gaines already has five rushing TD's this season. Joshua Hawkins had his number called 10 times and produced 57 rushing yards on the night. Kylan Pollard led the Blazers in receptions hauling in five passes for 94 yards. Justin Kenyon caught one pass for 15 yards and a touchdown.

As a team, Belhaven ended the night with 276 yards of total offense with 132 of them coming on the ground. The Blazers had 144 yards through the air. Belhaven was perfect in the Red-Zone going 4 for 4 and are a perfect 12 for 12 in Red-Zone scoring opportunities this season.

Defensively, Craig McDonald and Ricky Wadlington led the way again posting 11 total tackles each. McDonald had two tackles for a loss and Wadlington ended the night with 2.5 tackles for a loss. Linebacker Ryan Rice had a solid night contributing nine tackles including a sack and two tackles for a loss. Dewayne Whitten had eight tackles with one for a loss followed by Justin Mims and Josh Herring with seven tackles each. Mims also had the interception return for a touchdown that was the difference in the game. Unger came up with the other Blazer pick.

“This was a big for our program tonight,” said Belhaven Head Coach Joe Thrasher. “We were able to hang in there and withstand a late charge by MC to hold on for the victory. I was proud of the way we ran the football tonight and once again our defense and special teams made some big plays. The interception return for a touchdown by Mims to end the first half changed the complexion of the game for us going into halftime. The special teams blocked our third kick of the season which set up another score for us early in the third quarter. Hopefully we'll be able to take the momentum from this win tonight as we get ready to face Lindsey Wilson in a Mid-South Conference cross divisional game on the road next week.”

Mississippi College was led by Reyer who completed 18 passes on 27 attempts for 20 yards and three touchdowns. Reyer also ran for another touchdown, but tossed two interceptions. Steven Knight chewed up 95 yards running the football and Randal Pharr made five catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. As a team, the Choctaws had 325 yards of total offense. On defense, Dillon Causey made 11 tackles followed by Dustin Retherford who came up with eight tackles including one for a loss. Bertrand had six tackles and an interception followed by Doc Ward with six tackles and a tackle for a loss.

Belhaven will take the field again on Saturday as they travel to Lindsey Wilson College for a 1:30 PM kickoff. All the play-by-play action can be heard in the Jackson, MS area on WJMF 87.7 FM or online at blazers.belhaven.edu.