ARVADA – Needing a win to keep hopes alive for an NCAA Playoff berth, as well as a chance to capture at least a share of the RMAC Championship, the No. 19 Colorado School of Mines football team overcame four turnovers to defeat Adams State 49-34 at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada.
With the win, Mines (10-1, 8-1 RMAC) shares the 2014 RMAC Championship with No. 8 CSU-Pueblo (10-1, 8-1 RMAC) – the 21st league title in program history and first since the 2010 season.
The Orediggers and Grizzlies (4-7, 3-6 RMAC) battled through snow and wind all afternoon in below-freezing weather, but the conditions didn't slow down either squad as the pair combined for 875 yards of offense and 83 points.
Mines opened up the scoring on a 23-yard pass from sophomore Justin Dvorak to Diamond Gillis with 13:05 to play in the first to go up 6-0. The extra point attempt would be no good.
Adams State answered with a 20-yard pass from Auston Hillman to Denzel McCullum on the next drive to take a 7-6 lead after the extra point.
Mines answered on a 55-yard touchdown from Dvorak to Gilis with 5:59 to play, and Dvorak's rush attempt would be good, giving Mines a 14-7 lead. The lead was pushed to 20-7 on a 26-yard touchdown by Dvorak to Cole Spurgeon with 3:31 to play in the opening quarter. Mines' rush attempt would be no good, leaving the score 20-7 at the end of the first stanza.
Another touchdown by Spurgeon opened the second quarter when Dvorak found him for a 12-yard score, and a 2-point conversion pass from Dvorak to Gillis moved the score to 28-7 with 2:36 remaining in the second.
That score would hold until halftime.
Adams State opened the second half scoring with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Lamar McKnight to Phil Romero, cutting Mines' lead to 28-14.
Consecutive touchdown runs by Tevin Champagne pushed Mines' lead to 42-14. His first, a 1-yard rumble, closed a 12-play, 77-yard drive that ate up almost five minutes of clock time and his second, a 24-yard scamper, closed a three-play, 30-yard drive with 2:24 remaining in the third.
The Grizzlies used a 1-yard touchdown run by Nick Diercks and a 2-point rush by Phil Romero to cut the lead to 42-14, and a 14-yard pass from Hillman to Addie Brown left the score at 42-28 with 11:26 to play in the contest.
Dvorak added a five-yard touchdown run to cap a six-play, 63-yard drive with 8:41 to play – his fifth touchdown of the game – to give Mines a 49-28 lead.
ASU closed the game's scoring with a 9-yard touchdown from Hillman to Brown, bringing the score to final at 49-34.
Dvorak finished just 17-of-40 through the air, but averaged better than 19 yards per completion on the way to 337 yards and four touchdowns. He added 58 rushing yards on 14 carries, including a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Champagne became the first running back since Dan Palmer (2009-13) in 2011 to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards (1,033) with an 84-yard performance on Saturday. He carried 18 times and scored twice, while adding 42 yards on four receptions in the passing game. Saturday's performance brought his season all-purpose yardage total to a team-best 1,404 yards.
Gillis caught four balls for 99 yards and two touchdowns and went over 800 receiving yards and 1,000 all-purpose yards for the season in the contest. Spurgeon added his team-leading 8th and 9th scores on 74 receiving yards and four receptions.
Jimmy Ellis added 65 receiving yards and 77 return yards for 142 all-purpose yards in the contest to up his season yardage total 1,283 yards.
The linebacker trio of Billy Sprague, Kole Kadavy and Chris Pinson all posted 10-plus tackles in the contest, with Sprague leading the squad with 11 (three solo) in addition to 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
Kadavy notched 10 tackles (seven solo) and 1.0 tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup in the win. The senior co-captain captured the program's single-season tackle record with his 10-stop performance against ASU, bringing his record-breaking total on the season to 132. He entered the matchup just two shy of tying Daniel Leger's (2001-04) mark of 124 set during the 2004 season.
Pinson posted 10 stops (three solo) as well, and redshirt freshman Drew Stephon notched nine stops (six solo) and three pass breakups.
Junior Emmanuel Graves added eight stops, 1.0 sack, a quarterback hurry and 3.5 tackles for loss, while fellow front-four member Matt Craighead added seven stops, 1.0 sack and 2.0 tackles for loss.
Andrew Renfrew notched seven stops while senior corner Ian McFadden added six and a pair of pass breakups.
Avery Llewellyn punted four times for 141 yards (35.2 average), including a long of 46 yards. He also finished 3-for-4 on point-after attempts.
The Orediggers will find out on Sunday afternoon if they have made enough of an impression to earn a bid into the 2014 NCAA Division II Playoffs. The playoff teams will be released live on NCAA.com at 5 PM (EST) / 3 PM (MST). Click HERE to video the live broadcast.
Scoring Summary
Qtr Time Scoring Play | Score
1st 13:05 CSM - Diamond Gillis 23 yd pass from Justin Dvorak (Avery Llewellyn kick failed) | Mines, 6-0
11:02 ASU - McCullum, D. 20 yd pass from Hillman, A. (Krauser, K. kick) | ASU, 7-6
05:59 CSM - Diamond Gillis 55 yd pass from Justin Dvorak (Justin Dvorak rush) | Mines, 14-7
03:31 CSM - Cole Spurgeon 26 yd pass from Justin Dvorak (Justin Dvorak rush failed) | Mines, 20-7
2nd 02:36 CSM - Cole Spurgeon 12 yd pass from Justin Dvorak (Diamond Gillis pass from Justin Dvorak) | Mines, 28-7
3rd 12:20 ASU - Romero, P. 43 yd pass from McKnight, L. (Krauser, K. kick) | Mines, 28-14
04:48 CSM - Tevin Champagne 1 yd run (Avery Llewellyn kick) | Mines, 35-14
02:24 CSM - Tevin Champagne 24 yd run (Avery Llewellyn kick) | Mines, 42-14
00:16 ASU - Diercks, N. 1 yd run (Romero, P. rush) | Mines, 42-22
4th 11:26 ASU - Brown, A. 14 yd pass from Hillman, A. (Krauser, K. kick failed) | Mines, 42-28
08:41 CSM - Justin Dvorak 5 yd run (Avery Llewellyn kick) | Mines, 49-28
02:40 ASU - Brown, A. 9 yd pass from Hillman, A. (Hillman, A. pass failed) | Mines, 49-34
