Box Score
Pineville, LA-Belhaven and Louisiana College battled through the wind and rain of tropical storm Lee into triple overtime Saturday night with the Wildcats prevailing 32-24. The Blazers had a 24-13 lead with 7:21 to play in the fourth quarter, but Louisiana College would score 19 unanswered points to win the game. Belhaven had some chances to put the game away, but let them slip by the boards.

Belhaven (1-1) fell behind in the first quarter when Louisiana College's running back Ryan Montague carried the ball up the middle from five yards out to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead after the extra point was missed. The Blazers cracked the scoreboard late in the first half thanks to a touchdown pass from Jimmy Basford to running back Justin Gaines who was wide open out of the backfield for the catch and run for six. Up until that point, the Belhaven offense had been slowed down by a tough Louisiana College defense. The drive consisted of four plays that covered 77 yards in 1:45. On the second play of the drive, Basford connected with Rashad Wynes on a 41 yard pass that setup the touchdown that gave Belhaven a 7-6 edge going into halftime.

Both defenses's dominated the third quarter and neither offense could put any points on the board until early in the fourth period when James Bryan blasted a 22 yard field goal through the uprights to extend Belhaven's lead to 10-6. The score was setup on a blocked punt by Joshua Hawkins that gave Belhaven possession on the Wildcat 13 yard line. Forcing the field goal would prove to be big for Louisiana College as on the ensuing possession they marched down the field and punched it in to the end zone on a seven yard touchdown run by Bartholomew. The drive went 75 yards and the result was a 13-10 Wildcat lead.

Belhaven could not move the ball on offense on ensuing possession and went three and out forcing a punt by Robby Robinson who put the Wildcats at their own 23. Following a 10 yard penalty and a two yard run by Louisiana College, Wildcat quarterback Jamie Bunting could not handle a shotgun snap as the ball bounced back to the half yard line where Ryan Rice fell on top of it for Belhaven. On the next play, Gaines took it in for the score and all of a sudden the Blazers were back in front 17-13 with 8:20 to play.

The defense would come up with another big play 59 seconds later when Ricky Wadlington picked off a Bunting pass over the middle and took it back 32 yards for the score. The touchdown put Belhaven ahead 24-13 with 7:21 remaining and completely swung the momentum in their favor. However, Louisiana College got right back into the contest as Bunting produced three big pass plays that sent the Wildcats back to the end zone in a span of 41 seconds. Bunting's touchdown strike on the drive was 28 yards and landed in the hands of D'Mario Parker. On the two point conversion attempt, Bunting scrambled and was close to being over the line of scrimmage, but a shovel pass to Parker was allowed to stand cutting Belhaven's lead to 24-21.

Belhaven went three and out following the kickoff as the Wildcat defense forced yet another punt. On third and one, the Blazers had a chance to convert but Basford's pass to Gaines in the flats glanced off his hands and fell incomplete. Louisiana College took advantage and moved the ball from their own 16 yard line to the Belhaven 21 where Adan Olivares snuck a 38 yard field goal inside the right upright to tie the score at 24-24 with 24 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.

In the first overtime Louisiana College took the ball first and on second and seven, Bunting was picked off in the end zone by Dewayne Whitten putting the Blazers in position to win the game on their possession. However, Basford was sacked by Peter Ford on a second down pass play and as a result fumbled the ball. Nate Janzen picked it up off the turf to force a second overtime. Belhaven turned it over on downs in their possession of overtime number two, but the defense stepped up again and Craig McDonald blocked an Olivares 40 yard field goal attempt sending the game to yet another overtime session.

This time, Bunting and the Wildcats didn't waste any time as Bunting went up top on the first play and found Justin Usey for a 25 yard touchdown. The Wildcats made the two point conversion and led 32-24. Belhaven could not punch it in on their possession and the game ended with Louisiana College taking home the victory.

Belhaven was led on offense by Basford who completed 12 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. He was also intercepted once and was sacked five times as Louisiana College brought pressure the entire night. Gaines carried the ball 18 times for 44 yards and had a touchdown. He also caught four passes for 54 yards and added another touchdown. As a team, the Blazers were limited to 200 total yards of offense and struggled on third down going 2 for 16. They turned it over four times with three fumbles and one interception.

Defensively, McDonald had nine more tackles including one for a loss. He also had one pass breakup and a blocked kick. Ryan Rice and Kruz Long each had eight stops followed by Justin Mims with seven tackles and an interception. Unger had seven tackles and a tackle for a loss, Jared McCarthy had 2.5 tackles for a loss, Wadlington picked up five tackles with an INT, and Whitten registered three tackles and an interception. The Blazers forced six Wildcat turnovers in Saturday's game including three fumbles and three interceptions.

Louisiana College (1-0) was led by Bunting who completed 21 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. Ryan Montague rushed the ball 18 times for 100 yards and a TD and D'Mario Parker proved to be Bunting's favorite target through the air catching eight passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Peter Ford had seven tackled including four for a loss and two forced fumbles. Taylor Cottano ended the night with seven tackles and 1.5 for a loss.

Belhaven will look to regroup next Saturday when they return home to meet up with Mississippi College at H.T. Newell Field. The Choctaws defeated Millsaps 33-27 in overtime on Saturday night and enter the game with a 1-0 record. All the play-by-play action can be heard on 87.7 FM WJMF in the Jackson, MS area beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 PM followed by the kickoff at 7:00. Fans can also hear the action online at blazers.belhaven.edu and see live video streaming of Saturday's home contest.