GOLDEN – Following a 49-34 victory over Adams State to clinch a share of the RMAC Championship and earn a spot in the Division II Playoffs, the Colorado School of Mines football team moved up to No. 17 in this week's AFCA Division II Coaches Poll and to No. 21 in the D2Football.com Poll.
Mines (10-1), the No. 4 seed in Super Region Four, will face No. 9/8 Ohio Dominican (9-1) on Saturday at noon at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada.
The Orediggers will be making their third trip to the NCAA Playoffs and first since the 2010 season.
Sophomore quarterback Justin Dvorak finished just 17-of-40 through the air in Saturday's win over Adams State, 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.
Senior Tevin 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.
Senior wideout Diamond 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. Junior Cole 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. He also set a new program record with 79 solo tackles, breaking Leger's record of 72 which was also 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.
AFCA Division II Coaches Poll – November 17, 2014
Rank School (1st votes) Rec. Pts.
1. Minnesota St.-Mankato (29) 11-0 771
2. Minnesota-Duluth 11-0 734
3. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) (1) 11-0 713
4. Ferris St. (Mich.) (1) 11-0 688
5. Pittsburg St. (Kan.) 10-1 640
6. Northwest Missouri St. 10-1 607
7. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 10-0 575
8. Colorado St.-Pueblo 10-1 569
9. Ohio Dominican 9-1 499
10. Concord (W.Va.) 11-0 496
11. Delta St. (Miss.) 9-1 444
12. North Alabama 9-1 410
13. Harding (Ark.) 9-1 378
14. Bloomsburg (Pa.) 10-1 364
15. West Chester (Pa.) 10-1 356
16. Sioux Falls (S.D.) 10-1 332
17. Colorado School of Mines 10-1 283
18. Michigan Tech 9-1 275
19. Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 10-1 212
20. Winston-Salem St. (N.C.) 9-2 135
21. Valdosta St. (Ga.) 8-2 132
22. Henderson St. (Ark.) 9-2 122
T-23. Angelo St. (Texas) 8-2 72
T-23. Virginia St. 9-2 72
25. West Georgia 9-2 58
Dropped Out: Shepherd (W.Va.) (21), Indianapolis (Ind.) (23), Texas A&M-Commerce (24)
Others Receiving Votes: Shepherd (W.Va.), 49; Ashland (Ohio), 31; Texas A&M-Commerce, 16; Tuskegee (Ala.), 16; Indianapolis (Ind.), 9; Humboldt St. (Calif.), 6; Slippery Rock (Pa.), 6; Central Oklahoma, 4; Albany St. (Ga.), 1.
D2Football.com Top 25 Poll – November 18, 2014
Rank School Record
1. Minnesota State 11-0
2. Minnesota Duluth 11-0
3. Ferris State 11-0
4. Lenoir-Rhyne 11-0
5. Pittsburg State 10-1
6. Northwest Missouri 10-1
7. CSU-Pueblo 10-1
8. Ohio Dominican 9-1
9. West Chester 10-1
10. Delta State 9-1
11. North Alabama 9-1
12. Concord 11-0
13. Ouachita Baptist 10-0
14. Bloomsburg 10-1
15. Valdosta State 8-2
16. Sioux Falls 10-1
17. Harding 9-1
18. Azusa Pacific 10-1
19. Michigan Tech 9-1
20. Winston-Salem 9-2
21. Colorado School of Mines 10-1
22. West Georgia 9-2
23. Virginia State 9-2
24. Henderson State 9-2
25. Slippery Rock 9-2
