Louisiana College's Wildcats football team looks to even the ledger Saturday when it takes on American Southwest Conference opponent Belhaven University in Jackson, MS.
LC dropped its season opener to DI Stetson in Deland, FL, last weekend 58-13.

Third-year Wildcats' head coach Justin Charles is 1-1 against Belhaven, having defeated the Blazers 42-7 last year in Pineville. LC holds a 6-3 advantage in the schools' 9 previous meetings.

Despite last week's loss, Charles said his focus this week has been like any other, internal. "We're focused on us," Charles said after Thursday's practice. "We need to get better. A loss is a loss and we just have to work on getting better."

Saturday's contest is one of three straight road games to open the season for the Wildcats. That makes no difference to Charles and his team. "Championship teams win on the road and at home," he said. "Our goal is to go 1-0 every game. Where we play is not an issue. That's just part of it."

Starting quarterback Landon Lalonde, a sophomore from Cecilia, was 16 of 30 for 166 yards and a score last week, with three interceptions. Freshman Sal Palermo came in and was 9 of 21 for 94 yards and also tossed a scoring strike.

Micah Dunn, the Wildcats' sophomore wide receiver, had 8 catches for 100 yards on the day, while junior Zion Williams added 7 catches for 77 yards and a score. LC's other TD reception went to freshman Jarred Simpson, who finished with 3 catches for 41 yards.

With Saturday's game being a conference matchup, there will be plenty of familiarity between the teams. Does that make this game more important? "Yes it's a conference game. But it's a big game because every game is a big game," Charles said. "We know what they're going to do and they know what we're going to do. We just have to go out and execute." 

Kickoff in Belhaven Bowl Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday. The live broadcast of the game can be heard on Alexandria's 104.3 FM, The Bridge.