JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven football team was dominant on Saturday afternoon with a 44-0 shutout win over the Sul Ross State Lobos.

Belhaven was able to capitalize early in the ballgame after stopping an early Sul Ross drive and blocking the Lobos field goal attempt that would've opened the scoring. Demetrius Brokenberry returned the block 40 yards and set Belhaven up in Lobo's territory. The offense then was able to drive the remainder of the field and on third down, Mayowa Asagunla hit Cooper Tullo on a slant route for the 17-yard score. 

Leading 7-0, the Blazers got another big play from their defense as Connor Fordham was able to pressure Sul Ross QB Tyler DeShields and came away with the strip sack that was recovered by the Blazers. The turnover once again put Belhaven in strong field position and the Blazers were able to add a field goal through Constantine Hontzas to take a two-score lead. 

Early in the second quarter the Blazers would get another big play to create a scoring chance as Kolbe Blunt broke off an 84-yard run from inside the BU 10-yard line which set the Blazers up with short field. Blunt was able to punch it in himself a few plays later as the Blazers took a 17-0 lead. Shortly after the Blazers tacked on another score when Mayowa Asagunla was able to lower his shoulder and drive past the goal line for six. Just before the half Asagunla called his number again punching it in from a few yards out to put the Blazers up 31-0 going into the break.

The BU offense picked up where they left off to start the second half driving down the field on their opening possession before Brad Foley joined the TD party with a two-yard carry. To cap off the scoring Kolbe Blunt picked up his second TD of the game which put the Blazers on top 44-0 which is how the game would finish. 

As a team, the Blazers were dominant at the line of scrimmage. The offense put up 446 yards total with 332 yards coming via the ground game and 114 yards coming through the air. Belhaven finished with 22 total first downs in the contest and averaged seven yards per play attempt.

On the defensive side of the ball Belhaven was just as effective as the Lobos were held to just 114 yards of total offense. Sul Ross managed just 35 rushing yards and 79 passing yards while averaging just 3.1 yards per play. Belhaven's defense racked up seven total sacks in the game and forced two fumbles which turned into 17 points for Belhaven.

Individually, the Belhaven offense was led by Mayowa Asagunla who finished 9-13 through the air for 57 passing yards. Asagunla also added 50 yards on nine carries and a pair of rushing touchdowns. Kolbe Blunt led the Blazers ground attack with 117 yards on 10 carries, good for 11.7 yards per carry and two scores while Brad Foley finished with 87 yards and 12 rush attempts as well as a touchdown. Capping off the BU ground attack was D'Ante Gallashaw who ran for 59 yards on six carries all in the second half. Six receivers finished with a catch on the day while Cooper Tullo picked up the lone receiving touchdown.

The Blazers' defense was led by Connor Fordham who finished with eight total tackles including 3.0 sacks which ties a program single game record. Fordham finished with 3.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble in the contest. Carlton Brown added a pair of sacks on the day as his season total for tackles for loss rises to 9.5 after today's 2.0 TFL performance. Isaiah Blackmon and Austin Russell also picked up a sack each while the pair along with Christian Lewis and Everett Jones contributed to Belhaven's 9.0 tackles for loss on the day. Rock Schexnaydre joined Connor Fordham in forcing the two Sul Ross turnovers in the contest. The shutout of Sul Ross is the Blazers' first since November 2018 when they shutout the Lobos in an 8-0 win. 

With the win, the Blazers move to 4-2 on the season and 3-2 in ASC play. They'll look to build on their three-game win streak next Saturday as they travel Brownwood, Texas to face Howard Payne (5-0). Kickoff against HPU is set for 1 PM.

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