By Con Marshall BOX SCORE
The Colorado Mines Orediggers, ranked No, 2 nationally in NCAA Division II, continued their winning ways Saturday afternoon while downing the Chadron State Eagles 35-7 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game played in Golden.
After being forced to punt on their first possession, the Orediggers scored the next four times they had the ball by driving 92, 80, 80 and 68 yards.
They also competed a 65-yard drive late in the second quarter to take a 35-0 halftime lead.
The Orediggers’ offense is led by senior quarterback John Matocha, who is bidding to win his second straight Harlon Hill Award as the outstanding player in Division II. He had a great day, racking up 356 yards of total offense, most of it in the first half.
He was still in the game midway in the fourth quarter, when Eagles freshman Tucker Peterson picked off his pass at the seven-yard line to blunt Mines’ only long drive in the second half.
For the game, Matocha completed 28 of 44 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for 72 yards. Two of his scoring tosses of one and 18 yards were caught by wide receiver Zach Hoffman. The other went 16 yards to running back Noah Roper.
Roper also scored on runs of 38 and three yards and was the game’s leading rusher with 11 carries for 110 yards.
Now 5-0, the Orediggers had 546 yards of offense–244 on the ground and 302 through the air. Max McLeod was Matocha’s favorite target with 10 receptions for 103 yards. Hoffman had seven for 84.
If they were giving one, the Eagles’ player of the game award would likely go to sophomore Brodie Eisenbraun. He averaged 48.2 yards on nine punts, picked up a first down on a fake punt and scored Chadron State’s touchdown.
The TD came early in the fourth period when Eisenbraun, as the holder for placekicks, crossed up the Orediggers again by taking the snap from center when CSC was lined up to kick a field goal, raised up from his kneeling position, tucked the ball under his arm and ran 13 yards to the end zone.
It’s probably the first time Chadron State has scored in that manner.
The Eagles also threatened early when on their second play from scrimmage, wide receiver Rollin George took a handoff from quarterback Preston Pearson and raced 44 yards to the Mines’ 13-yard line. But Pearson’s pass on the next play was picked off by safety Jaden Williams. That was the Eagles’ only turnover.
Pearson completed 21 of 48 passes for 154 yards. Another sophomore, Tommy Thomas, was CSC’s leading receiver with nine catches for 59 yards. George’s 44-yard sprint made him the Eagles’ leading rusher. The team finished with just 93 yards rushing after the 13 yards lost when Pearson was sacked five times were deducted.
Chadron State intercepted two of Matocha’s passes. Safety Sutton Pohlman swiped one late in the second quarter to go with the fourth period pick by Peterson, who also forced a fumble.
Pohlman was the game’s busiest tackler, participating in eight. Dax Yeradi and Joey Geil each had seven.
Now 1-4, the Eagles will host the Fort Lewis Skyhawks this coming Saturday, Oct. 7 on
homecoming.
CSC CSM
First Downs 18 29
Total Net Yards 247 546
Rushes, Yards 24-93 31-244
Passing Yards 154 302
Passing 21-48-1 31-49-2
Return Yards 38 22
Punts, Average 9-48.2 5-44.8
Fumbles, Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties, Yards 9-90 12-105
Chadron State 0 0 0 7 —7
Colorado Mines 14 21 0 0 —35
CSM—Noah Roper 16 pass from John Matocha (Hunter Pearson kick)
CSM—Zach Hoffman 1 pass from Matocha (Pearson kick)
CSM—Hoffman 18 pass from Matocha (Pearson kick)
CSM—Roper 38 run (Pearson run)
CSM—Roper 3 run (Pearson kick)
CSC—Brodie Eisenbraun 13 run (Wilson Yee kick)
Tongue in cheek, but if it is really a school of minds, we need to get a very large semi, fill it with politicians and send it to Colorado.