GRAND JUNCTION – A 27-point fourth quarter scoring explosion paved the way for the Colorado School of Mines football team to open up a defensive battle and improve to 4-0 in the Nyikos Cup series with a 27-10 win over Colorado Mesa on Saturday afternoon at Stocker Stadium.

The Orediggers (5-3, 4-2 RMAC) have now won the last five matchups against the Mavericks (5-3, 4-2 RMAC) in the series, including all four contests since the Nyikus Cup series was instituted in the 2010 season. 

With one more victory, the Orediggers will record their seventh-straight winning season and their 12th in 14 seasons under head coach Bob Stitt. The victory on Saturday was the 95th of Stitt's career. 

A low scoring battle through the first three quarters, Mines scored touchdowns on four of its six fourth quarter drives to turn a close, competitive game into a lopsided win. 

After the Orediggers turned the ball over on downs at the CMU six yard line on its opening drive, a blocked field goal by Alex Laudenslager on the ensuing Maverick drive kept both teams off the scoreboard.

That score would hold until the waning seconds of the first half before the Mavericks finally broke the stalemate with a 33-yard field goal by Tanner Donahue with 10 seconds remaining in the first half for a 3-0 halftime lead.

It would take until the 12:50 mark of the fourth quarter for the Orediggers to get on the board, coming on a two-yard touchdown run by first-time starting quarterback Justin Dvorak for a 6-3 lead. Avery Llewellyn's extra point attempt would be blocked, leaving the score at 6-3.

After the defensive unit forced a three-and-out, the offense took over on its own nine yard line. A 31-yard completion to Jimmy Ellis and a 48-yarder to Ty Young got Mines in business at the Maverick one yard line before senior Dan Palmer notched his 236th career point with a one-yard touchdown run to put Mines up 12-3. Llewellyn would knock in the point after attempt to push Mines' lead to 13-3 with 9:54 remaining.

Dvorak would notch his second touchdown of the game with 3:32 remaining on a 13-yard touchdown pass to junior tailback Tevin Champagne. A Llewellyn extra point attempt would be true, giving the Orediggers a 20-3 lead.

A Billy Sprague interception and 38-yard return on the ensuing drive set the offense up nicely on the CMU four yard line, where Dvorak would scamper in just two plays later to put Mines up 27-3 with 1:47 remaining.

Colorado Mesa closed out the scoring with a two-yard touchdown pass from Aric Kaiser to Nathan Neville with 30 seconds remaining to bring the score to final at 27-10. 

Before the fourth quarter scoring output, the story of the game was Mines' defensive unit, which limited CMU to just three first-half points and 10 total in the contest.

The squad intercepted three passes, including one each by Sprague, Ryan Wood and Jalen Champagne. Sprague added eight tackles (six solo) and 0.5 tackle for loss as well. 

Senior Tyler Denson led the team with 12 tackles ( four solo), a pass breakup and 0.5 sack. The New Braunfels, Texas, product also had a pick-six that was called back on a roughing the passer penalty.

Ryan Griffith, Dallas Fields, Chad McGraw and Jake Utley each added seven tackles apiece, with Griffith adding a forced fumble and Fields and McGraw combining for 3.0 tackles for loss.

Junior Kole Kadavy added a 13-yard sack and 2.0 tackles for loss in addition to five tackles as well.

Dvorak led the offense with 356 yards and a touchdown on 30-of-49 passing in his first collegiate start. He was intercepted twice but also ran for 62 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries for 418 yards of total offense. 

Palmer added 53 yards and a score on 16 totes while T. Champagne recorded 16 rushing yards on nine carries. Palmer caught three balls for 15 yards while Champagne added 24 yards and a touchdown on three receptions. 

Ellis posted a game-high 10 receptions while Young topped all players with 162 receiving yards on seven receptions. Ellis added 42 yards on four punt returns, a 45-yard kickoff return and 92 receiving yards for a total of 179 all-purpose yards in the game. 

Llewellyn finished 3-of-4 on extra points and averaged 44.0 yards per punt on three kicks. 

The Orediggers will return home next weekend to host Western State (1-6, 1-4 RMAC) at noon at Campbell Field in Golden. The Mountaineers lost to Fort Lewis on Saturday by a score of 10-9 in Gunnison.