RAPID CITY, S.D. – Led by 439 yards passing from sophomore Justin Dvorak and 11 tackles for loss by the defense, the Colorado School of Mines football team opened up the 2014 campaign on Saturday evening with a 43-19 win over South Dakota Mines at O'Harra Stadium in Rapid City, S.D.
With the win, Mines (1-0) improves to 16-0 all-time against South Dakota Mines (0-1) in the series that began back in 1917. Also with the win, head coach Bob Stitt recorded his 99th career victory (99-60) and needs one more win to become the first coach in program history with 100 wins.
The Orediggers opened the scoring in the first quarter when senior tailback Tevin Champagne rumbled in from three years out to cap off a 10-play, 89-yard drive with 3:50 showing on the clock. The first of five extra points by junior Avery Llewellyn was good, leaving Mines up 7-0.
Mines pushed that lead to 13-0 when Dvorak found junior Cole Spurgeon on a 49-yard touchdown pass at the 14:16 mark in the second quarter. Llewellyn's point after attempt would be true, pushing Mines' lead to 14-0.
That lead got pushed to 16-0 just 12 seconds later when the linebacker duo of senior Chris Pinson and junior Billy Sprague sacked SDSMT's Trenton McKinney in the end zone for a safety with 14:04 to play in the first half.
The Orediggers added to their lead again on a 30-yard field goal by Llewellyn – his first of two field goals – with 10:34 to go before the half before the Hardrockers got on the board with a short touchdown run by McKinney with 5:59 to play in the opening half. SDSMT's two-point attempt would fail, leaving the score as 19-6.
Mines would close the scoring in the first half with a 39-yard field goal by Llewellyn as time expired in the half, giving Mines a 22-6 halftime lead.
A touchdown run by Dvorak opened the scoring in the second half as the dual threat scampered 13 yards to paydirt with 12:33 showing on the third quarter clock. Llewellyn's kick was good, pushing Mines' lead to 29-6. Dvorak's touchdown run capped a seven-play, 76-yard drive for the Orediggers.
SDSMT cut Mines' lead to 29-12 when McKinney found Ben Broeker for an 8-yard touchdown pass. The two-point attempt would fail again, leaving the score at 29-12.
Dvorak added his second touchdown of the game with a 1-yard scoring throw to Champagne to close a 13-play, 68-yard drive by Mines. Llewellyn's kick was true, pushing the Oredigger lead to 36-12 with 2:26 to go in the third quarter. Dvorak added his third scoring strike on a 17-yarder to senior Diamond Gillis with 13:54 to go in the fourth quarter. Llewellyn's PAT pushed Mines' lead to 43-12.
SDSMT closed the game with a scoring strike from McKinney to Eric Vandervort with 4:16 to play. The point after attempt was good, bring the score to final at 43-19.
As a squad, Mines finished with 638 yards of offense on 97 plays – good for 6.6 yards per play. Mines posted 452 yards through the air and added 186 on the ground in the win and was able to overcome three lost fumbles and nine penalties for 129 yards in the contest.
Mines' defense held SDSMT to 402 yards of offense and forced a pair of turnovers. Mines did not punt once in the game.
Dvorak finished 31-for-46 through the air for 439 yards and three touchdowns while adding 37 yards on 14 carries on the ground with another touchdown for 476 yards of total offense. Steven Yoshihara finished 4-for-6 for 13 yards and an interception in his first taste of collegiate action in relief of Dvorak late in the contest.
Champaigned carried the load for the rushing game with 99 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown. In total, he led the team with 147 all-purpose yards. Devin Reaves added 27 yards on five carries and senior Matt Brown carried once for 13 yards as well.
Gillis was one of two Orediggers with over 100 receiving yards after posting 133 on seven receptions with a touchdown. Sophomore Ty Young also caught seven passes for an even 100 yards as well. Champaign caught four passes for 48 yards and a score and Spurgeon added 74 yards on three receptions.
Brown, Jimmy Ellis and Alex Waner each recorded three catches and in total, 10 different Orediggers caught passes in the contest.
Ryan Griffith led the defense with nine solo tackles, while Pinson added eight tackles (five solo) and 0.5 sack and tackle for loss. Senior Ian McFadden added seven tackles and 0.5 tackle for loss, Shawn Kobylinski added six and Rylan Hess added five.
Andrew Renfrew led the defensive line with five tackles and 1.0 sack for a loss of nine yards and Sprague notched five tackles, 0.5 sack and 1.0 tackle for loss. Matt Craighead and Dallas Fields tied for the team lead with 3.0 tackles for loss and each recorded 1.0 sack as well on three tackles apiece.
Senior Zane Perez notched four stops and fellow senior Kole Kadavy added three tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception. Emmanuel Graves and Jeff Grenfell each added three stops apiece as well.
Llewellyn finished 2-for-3 on field goal attempts, connecting on kicks from 30 and 39 yards out. The Preseason RMAC Special Teams Player of the Year posted 11 points in the contest after also connecting on all five point after attempts.
Mines will open up the home portion of its schedule on Saturday when the squad hosts William Jewell at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada. Kickoff is slated for noon.
Scoring Summary
Qtr Time Scoring Play | Score
1st 03:50 CSM - Tevin Champagne 3 yd run (Avery Llewellyn kick), 10-89 3:17 | Mines, 7-0
2nd 14:16 CSM - Cole Spurgeon 49 yd pass from Justin Dvorak (Avery Llewellyn kick), 15-0 3:25 | Mines, 14-0
14:04 CSM - TEAM safety 16 – 010:34 CSM - Avery Llewellyn 30 yd field goal, 15-0 3:25 | Mines, 19-0
05:59 SDSMT - McKinney 4 yd run (Luna rush failed), 13-76 4:30 | Mines, 19–6
00:00 CSM - Avery Llewellyn 39 yd field goal, 5-9 0:43 | Mines, 22–6
3rd 12:33 CSM - Justin Dvorak 13 yd run (Avery Llewellyn kick), 7-76 2:21 | Mines, 29–6
06:30 SDSMT - Broeker 8 yd pass from McKinney (Luna rush failed), 6-55 1:38 | Mines, 29–12
02:26 CSM - Tevin Champagne 1 yd pass from Justin Dvorak (Avery Llewellyn kick), 13-68 3:57 | Mines, 36–12
4th 13:54 CSM - Diamond Gillis 17 yd pass from Justin Dvorak (Avery Llewellyn kick), 9-80 2:41 | Mines, 43–12
04:16 SDSMT - Vandervort 15 yd pass from McKinney (Jones kick), 11-62 2:20 | Mines, 43-19
