GOLDEN — The best college quarterback in Colorado drives around Titletown in a Toyota Tacoma. 2012. Two-wheel drive.
“We bought it used. Very used,” Keith Matocha, father of Colorado School of Mines QB John Matocha, told me with a laugh as his son’s top-ranked Orediggers pounded Kutztown, 35-7, to punch a second straight ticket to the NCAA Division II football national championships.
“And we weren’t very smart. We’re from Texas. It’s 2-wheel drive in a pickup, so he gets stranded quite often. So his lineman roommates ended up hauling him around quite a bit.”
As the snow that frosted Marv Kay Field reminded Keith of the worst decision of his son’s young life, the party below us reminded him of the best.
“Definitely the goal was to get back (to the NCAA championship),” the elder Matocha said of his son, who completed 30 of 37 passes, threw for three scores and ran for another to improve Mines’ record to 14-0 and launch them into a winner-take-all title game against Harding (Ark.) on Saturday in McKinney, Texas.
“So they can talk about ‘one game at a time’ all they want. But at the end, it was always about getting back to McKinney. So, yes, very determined. Very focused.”
A friend slid carefully to Keith along the icy bleachers, patting Dad on the shoulder as he passed.
“Bring home one more!”
Then another friend.
“Five years. It’s been great.”
Then another.
“Happy for all of you. Way to go.”
And another.
“You won’t have to fly out again.”
Keith, whose family lives in Houston, smiled at that last one.
“My brother lives very close to (McKinney),” dad explained. “So we get to go sleep on their floor.”
One more. One. More.
At least they know the drill. More to the point, so do the Diggers. In hindsight, John Matocha reflected, just getting to the title game for the first time as a program last December felt like Mines’ big victory.
The Diggers were just happy to be there. Ferris State was angrier. And faster. And bigger. Much, much, much, much bigger.
“When I sat up there (in the stands at McKinney) and (Ferris) ran that first sweep,” reflected Mines alum Tom Dimelow, who sat a few rows over from the Matochas. “I said to myself, ‘My God, Vince Lombardi must be smiling today.’”
Marv Kay, bless his soul, not so much. Ferris went up 27-0 at the half and rolled to a 41-14 victory.
“We felt we’d made it,” the younger Matocha, who just passed Chicago Bears QB Tyson Bagent for the No. 1 spot on the NCAA’s all-time carer passing TD chart, recalled earlier in the week. “We felt like the hype overcame us, and it may have affected our preparation and our execution.
“This year, it’s not a surprise, or ‘Oh my gosh, we made it.’ We have the experience to back it up now. … We’ll be more prepared.”
They’ve got the beef, too, if Saturday was any harbinger.
Mines nose tackle Kyle Bahnsen, a 305-pound ball of angry, split a double-team in the first half and forced Bears QB Judd Novak to throw the ball to the Heavens or risk an early audience with the angels. Novak heaved a wounded duck that got picked off in the end zone by Diggers safety Collin Romero. Kutztown never really threatened through the air again.
And despite the Golden Bears making a concerted effort to load up in the box, Mines racked up 165 rush yards on 29 carries anyway. And the fakes off the read option allowed Matocha to find 6-foot-4 Flynn Schiele (11 catches, 181 receiving yards) either all alone or matched up in single coverage against 5-9 corner Antaun Lloyd, whom he posted up the way Nikola Jokic posts up small-ball centers.
“They’ve got a great offensive line,” Kutztown coach Jim Clements said. “They are going to be hard to beat (in the championship).”
One more. One. More.
Mines athletic director David Hansburg had Texas on the brain Saturday, too. He watched the postgame news conference, leaning against a far wall, in a gray cowboy hat.
“You get that in McKinney?” I asked.
“Aspen,” he said with a grin.
“Is that from the Coach Prime collection?”
Hansburg shook his head, removed his chapeau and pointed at the tiny name burned into the brim: OREDIGGERS.
Welcome to Golden, where the dream lives.
“It’s what they play for,” Keith Matocha reflected proudly. “And a lot of these kids stuck around to go make it happen, right? I mean, you’ve got a lot of kids — I think (Mines coach Pete) Sterbick has said, they’ve got other things to do. And they stuck around to go for it. … I didn’t know if they could make it this far. Certainly not with the consistency that they have. But they’ve proven it.
“All of a sudden, it’s a reality now.”
One more, Blaster. One. More.
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