JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven Blazers football team dropped their homecoming game on Saturday to Reinhardt University, falling 35-24 at H.T. Newell Field.
Belhaven took a 24-21 lead on an
Aaron Spikes touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, but 14 unanswered points in the final 11 minutes handed the Blazers its third loss in Mid-South Conference West Division play.
The Blazers held nearly 39 minutes of possession in the game after rushing for 291 yards and throwing for another 143 yards in the contest. Belhaven's 434 yards of total offense was 100 yards more than Reinhardt, who finished with 206 yards rushing and 128 yards in the game for a total of 334.
Spikes put the Blazers in the lead when he broke open a 27-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, finishing off an 11 play, 76-yard drive to open up the game.
Reinhardt answered back with two 11-yard runs for touchdowns, the first coming with 1:51 remaining in the first quarter and the second coming early in the second quarter.
Darien Thomas then caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from
Mickey Forrest to tie the game at 14 with :23 seconds left in the second quarter.
Coming out of halftime, Reinhardt added an opening drive touchdown to go up 21-14. Alonzo Acosta followed it up with a 22-yard field goal on Belhaven's ensuing drive to cut the deficit to 21-17.
Kadero Edley was the leading rusher for Belhaven on the day, carrying the ball 28 times for 139 yards. Spikes finished with 134 yards rushing on 13 carries and finished with two touchdowns.
In the passing game, Forrest completed 15 of his 29 passes for 143 yards and the touchdown to Thomas, his only catch of the game.
Greg Livingston led all Blazers with eight receptions for 89 yards in the contest.
On defense,
Gregory Goree led all Blazers with 11 tackles in the game.
Chris Smith and
Anthony Coleman each had six tackles for Belhaven. Smith also had two pass break ups in the game.
The Blazers will return to the road next week, traveling to No. 19 Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.). The game is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. kick off on Saturday, October 25 in Columbia, Ky.
