Box Score
WISE, Va.- The Belhaven football team picked up right where it left off after last week's record setting performance against Campbellsville by piling up 52 points en route to a Mid-South Conference cross divisional win at the University of Virginia College at Wise 52-14 Saturday night. The Blazers have combined to score 122 points over the last two games. Saturday's win also snapped a 12 game losing streak on the road that dated back to 2010.

Belhaven (2-3, 1-1 MSC) had 282 yards rushing and 244 yards passing leading to 526 yards of total offense. The 282 rushing yards was second most for a single game in school history. The record is 323 yards set last year against Faulkner University. All seven of Belhaven's touchdowns were on the ground.

One of the goals that Head Coach Joe Thrasher had when he took over the program was to develop an offense that could run the football effectively. The Blazers have certainly been able to do that this season through the first five games of the schedule. Following Saturday's win, Belhaven in averaging 219.4 yards per game on the ground and has amassed 15 rushing touchdowns.

The game started out a little rocky for Belhaven after the team had driven to the UVA-Wise (1-5) 14 yard line on the opening possession of the game. The Blazers botched a potential field goal and failed to come up with any points. Two plays later the Cavaliers were in the end zone on an 84 yard touchdown run by running back Connery Swift.

Belhaven didn't stay on the mat for long and came right back with seven points to tie up the game. Junior Kadero Edley broke loose from 46 yards for the touchdown that capped a seven play 75 yard drive. The touchdown also ignited a string of 38 unanswered points that put the Blazers in command of the contest.

Senior running back Joshua Hawkins scored the go ahead touchdown in the early moments of the second half, plunging across the goal line from three yards out. The drive to the end zone lasted 10 plays and covered 90 yards. Belhaven would go on to score 17 points with less than seven minutes left in the second quarter.

It started when junior running back Roy Williams Jr. picked up his first TD of the year on a one yard run followed by a 30 yard field goal by senior James Bryan. With 19 seconds to go in the half, senior quarterback Alex Williams dove across the goal line from one yard out to make it a 31-7 lead following the extra point. The last two second quarters have been kind to Belhaven. The Blazers notched 28 second quarter points last week and 24 this week propelling Belhaven to a pair of wins.

The Blazers increased their advantage to 38-7 with 7:09 remaining in the third quarter on a one yard touchdown run by junior fullback Patrick Wilson. Belhaven's final two scores came in the fourth quarter on Williams second touchdown run of the night with 8:01 left followed by a one yard run by sophomore quarterback Raymond Cotton.

The only other UVA-Wise score on the night came at the 3:31 mark of the third quarter when quarterback Culen LaVoi hit Julian Stewart on a 47 yard touchdown pass.

“This was a complete team win for us,” said Belhaven Head Coach Joe Thrasher. “I have felt like God had a plan for this team and now I can see it coming together. The offense continued to pound the football and the defense came up with big stops all night. We only had to punt one time tonight which is always a good sign. This was a great road win for us.”

Edley had 169 rushing yards and a touchdown to pace the Belhaven offense. Williams also had a pair or rushing TD's and completed 13 of 22 pass attempts for 231 yards. His favorite target was wide receiver Frederick Boggs who had four receptions for 54 yards.

On defense, lineman Marcus Arrington had nine tackles followed by defensive back Craig McDonald with seven stops and a pair of pass breakups. Belhaven forced two fumbles and senior defensive back Dewayne Whitten picked off his first pass of the season. Junior linebacker Calvin Lewis had both of the fumble recoveries and one of three Blazer quarterback sacks on the night. The Blazers held UVA-Wise to 309 total yards, although 84 of them came on a touchdown run by Swift in the first half. That touchdown gave the Cavaliers their only lead of the night.

Swift ended the night with 126 yards and a touchdown to lead the UVA-Wise offense. LaVoi completed only eight passes for 163 and a touchdown while Julian Stewart caught two passes for 103 yards and one TD. Linebacker Matt Sandoval had a game high 14 tackles for the Cavaliers defense.

Belhaven returns home next week to face Kentucky Christian University in another Mid-South Conference cross divisional game beginning at 1:30 PM at H.T. Newell Field.