Another week of Division II and Division III football in Mississippi is now in the books. Highlighted by the biggest wins of the year so far for both Belhaven and Delta State, catch up with the scores from Saturday below.
Belhaven 29, Huntingdon 3
The Blazers (5-0, 3-0 USA South) overcame a huge obstacle in their pursuit to win the program’s first conference championship since 2006, taking down defending USA South champion Huntingdon 29-3 at home. After a Tim Johnson interception on the opening drive, the Belhaven defense put together the first of what would be a whole lot of big-time stops. Leading the way in the first half was running back Kolbe Blunt, who found the end zone twice. Johnson added a touchdown with his legs as the Blazers took a 22-0 lead into the locker room.
The Hawks (4-2, 2-1) managed to find the scoreboard with a field goal on the opening drive of the third quarter, but it would be their only score of the day as the Blazer defense held strong. On the day, they gave up just 204 total yards of offense and forced three turnovers. Belhaven put the final nail in the coffin with a Devin Daniels touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Belhaven’s rushing attack continued to prove that it’s the best in the USA South with 411 yards against what was the conference’s top defensive unit. Blunt accounted for 225 of those yards while Daniels added 50. Johnson finished the day with 134 total yards.
Delta State 49, Valdosta State 25
With Mississippi College having a bye week, Delta State was Mississippi’s lone Division II team to compete in week six and the Statesmen did not disappoint. Playing their first ranked opponent of the year, No. 8 Delta State took down No. 19 Valdosta State 49-25 on the road.
It was a back-and-forth affair throughout most of the first half before the Statesmen (6-0, 4-0 GSC) scored back-to-back touchdowns to take a 28-17 lead into the locker room. Getting the ball first to start the second half, Delta State immediately extended their lead and never let the Blazers (5-1, 2-1) back into the game.
Leading the way were running backs Kelvin Smith and Christian Malloy, who combined for 296 of the team’s 417 rushing yards. Smith had three touchdowns while Malloy added one. Star quarterback Patrick Shegog, who left last week’s game early with a leg injury, had 112 passing yards and three total touchdowns but threw his first interceptions of the year with two. The Statesmen forced three interceptions of their own as Malik Jones picked the opposing quarterback off for the third game in a row.
Rhodes 37, Millsaps 7
Coming off their first win of the season last week against Birmingham Southern, any momentum Millsaps (1-5, 1-3 SAA) had built up was quickly lost against Rhodes (4-2 2-2). The Majors went down by 14 early in the game before pulling within one possession on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Gray Jennings to Temias Mason.
With the score at 14-7 in favor of the Lynx, Rhodes found the end zone quickly in the second quarter to go back up by two possessions. A receiving touchdown from Jackson native Aaron Cooper extended their lead to 28-7 going into the locker room. Another touchdown and a field goal in the second half would make the final score 37-7.
Leading Millsaps in the box score was Jennings with 218 yards on 21 of 38 passing with one touchdown and an interception. Mason finished the day with 48 yards and a score on six catches, while Liam Cohen added 32 yards on the ground. The Major defense failed to put much pressure on the quarterback or force any turnovers as Rhodes went off for a season-high 563 yards.
