JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven Blazers fell to Louisiana College 38-28 Saturday afternoon at H.T. Newell Field.
The Blazers gained a fourth quarter lead via a Marquis Hedge 1-yard touchdown rush, however, the Wildcats answered back with 14 unanswered points over the final 4:51 to pull away and hand Belhaven the loss.
Louisiana College jumped out to a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Belhaven got on the scoreboard with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Tristan Hibbeler to Nathan Thomas at the end of the second quarter to go into the half with a score of 17-7.
Belhaven fell behind 24-7 after the Wildcats scored midway through the third quarter, setting up the Blazers come-from-behind effort.
Kevin Shief caught a 28-yard touchdown pass and then Quran Hasan caught a 20-yard touchdown pass, both from Hibbeler to cut the deficit to 24-21.
Belhaven then scored the third straight touchdown of the game with Hedge's run. It was also Belhaven's first rushing touchdown of the season.
With the final extra point, Alonso Acosta also moved into the top five all time in extra points at Belhaven as a junior.
Belhaven put together 459 yards of offense in the game, including 381 yards through the air.
Hibbeler was 24-of-46 for 308 yards, collecting his second straight 300+ yard passing game. Hedge finished with 94 yards rushing on 18 carries.
Nate Williams led all receivers with seven catches for 83 yards.
Defensively, Isaiah Swopes had two interceptions and two pass break ups in the game to go along with four tackles. Alvin Vaughn also had an interception in the game and five tackles.
David Hudson led the Blazers with 12 tackles in the game, while Rico McCullum led the Blazers with two of the Belhaven's five sacks in the contest.
The Blazers will remain at home next week with homecoming scheduled against Warner University on October 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Newell Field.
