In its first week as the top-ranked football team in Division II, Colorado School of Mines got a tiny scare Saturday afternoon. Heavy emphasis on tiny.
Trailing at halftime for the first time in RMAC play this season, the Orediggers scored 28 unanswered points over the final two quarters to beat Black Hills State 42-17 on Saturday afternoon in Spearfish, S.D.
Quarterback John Matocha threw three of his five touchdown passes in the second half — two going to receiver Max McLeod — and finished with 323 yards on 23-of-35 passing. The effort pushed Matocha past former Oredigger Justin Dvorak at the top of the RMAC’s all-time total offensive yards leaderboard, with the senior now at 14,834 career yards after his 50th start for Mines (8-0, 6-0 RMAC).
McLeod had three touchdown grabs total and nine catches for 101 yards, while Flynn Schiele hauled in four passes for 96 yards. Landon Walker turned in a career day with 130 yards on 21 carries for the Orediggers.
After going down 17-14 in the first two quarters, the Mines defense made a second-half adjustment to contain Black Hills quarterback Tanner Clarkson and shut out the Yellow Jackets (4-4, 3-3 RMAC) the rest of the way.
Clarkson completed just 10 of 22 passes for 217 yards and had 73 yards on 14 carries, but most of the damage was done in the first half. Devyn Lauer recovered a fumbled punt for the Mines, Jackson Zimmermann snagged an interception and Evan Alexander caused and scooped up a fumble.
Next up for Mines is Western Colorado (8-0, 6-0 RMAC), which clobbered New Mexico Highlands 62-0 on Saturday to set up a showdown of RMAC unbeatens at Marv Kay Stadium next weekend.
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