JACKSON - The Belhaven Football team cruised past visiting LaGrange on Senior Day, taking down the Panthers by a final of 36-9 behind strong performances in all three phases. The Blazers improved to 4-5 (4-3 USAC) with the win.

After a defensive stop on the Panthers' opening possession of the game, the Blazers drove right down the field with Constantine Hontzas finishing the drive with a 23-yard field goal. Icarius Hodgin halted the following LaGrange drive with an interception to give Belhaven the ball back. 

The special teams unit came up with a big play on the Panthers' next drive as Mathew Cacamo blocked the punt and Luke Handy recovered inside the LaGrange 5-yard line. The offense punched it in a few plays later as quarterback Blake Kirby called his own number from a yard out to give Belhaven a 10-0 with 10:06 left in the half.

The Blazers' defense continued its strong start as Wyatt Beck picked off a pass on the ensuing possession and returned it deep into LaGrange territory. It took just one play for Belhaven to capitalize as Kirby connected with Jacobey James-Grace in the endzone to extend the lead out to 17-0 at the break.

LaGrange found the scoreboard with 10:45 remaining in the third quarter, but the Blazers answered with a 10-play, 82-yard drive that was capped off by a touchdown pass from Kirby to RJ Garrison to go up 23-9 after three quarters of play.

Hontzas added a 23-yarder to open up the fourth quarter to push the Belhaven lead to 26-9. The Blazers forced the Panthers' fourth turnover of the day on the next drive as Jay'Den Jones recovered a fumble that was knocked out by Wyatt Beck. Devin Daniels powered in from two yards out to add another six for the Blazers with 12:46 left in the game.

Hontzas capped off the Belhaven scoring barrage with a 37-yard field goal for his third of the day to bring the final scoreline to 36-9. With his 23rd career made field goal, Hontzas became Belhaven's all-time leader in that category.

Kirby finished 12-of-20 with two touchdowns through the air while adding a score on the ground. Caleb Gallashaw led a balanced rushing attack with 52 yards on eight carries. James-Grace hauled in six passes for 55 yards and a touchdown to pace the Blazers' receiving corp.

Defensively, Wyatt Beck filled the stat sheet with 12.0 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and an interception. Tyler Miller also finished with double-digit tackles with 11. Icarius Hodgin and Cornelius Clay joined Beck with interceptions on the day.

The Blazers will wrap up the 2024 campaign next Saturday when they travel to Fayetteville, North Carolina for a 12:00 PM CT kickoff against Methodist.

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