GOLDEN, Colo. - Colorado School of Mines kept its RMAC title and playoff push alive, cruising past Adams State 42-7 on Senior Day.
The Orediggers (8-2, 7-2 RMAC) won their sixth consecutive game, and will head to Black Hills State next weekend with a chance to win a share of the RMAC title. Colorado Mesa won their share on Saturday with a 48-38 win over South Dakota Mines in their final RMAC game; CSU-Pueblo could also win a share next week.
Brody Oliver set the RMAC single-season receiving touchdowns record with a pair of strikes to take him to 22, while
Justin Dvorak set the RMAC passing touchdowns mark with his 43rd of the year. Dvorak had a nearly perfect game completing 27 of 33 passes for 336 yards and four touchdowns.
Sam Seeton ran for 102 yards and a score, while both Oliver and
Riley Hoff hit the 100-yard receiving mark.
The Mines defense held ASU (1-8, 1-8 RMAC) to only the single touchdown, stopping the Grizzlies four times on fourth down and generating a season-high eight pass break-ups to go with
James Bauer's interception.
Jalen Champagne had three of Mines' pass break-ups.
Mines raced out to a 28-0 lead at halftime and never looked back. Seeton scored on the opening drive with a seven-yard option pitch, and
Ty Young's one-handed grab from Dvorak's four-yard pass made it 14-0 after a quarter. Oliver caught his first touchdown on a 19-yarder early in the second quarter, and
Zach Richter made a fantastic falling catch in the back corner of the end zone at the halftime buzzer to set the 28-point lead.
Addie Brown's three-yard catch from Jorge Hernandez was ASU's only score, coming on the first drive of the second half, and Mines added two more touchdowns in the third quarter as Oliver caught a 15-yard pass and big gains from Hoff and Oliver set up
Zac Guy's seven-yard finish late in the period.
NOTABLES
- The Mines defense did a good job of bending but not breaking as ASU racked up 26 first downs and 413 yards of offense, but were limited to 4.6 yards per play. Adams State ran 90 plays to Mines' 61, a rarity for the Orediggers, who saw their defense on the field for a season-high 36:11.
- Oliver's 22 touchdowns breaks the record of 21 set by Chris Perry in 1995. The redshirt sophomore has caught at least one touchdown in all 10 games this year, and his 1,343 receiving yards are now only 34 shy of the Mines season record.
- Dvorak surpassed former Mines great Chad Friehauf's Mines and RMAC passing touchdown record of 39, which he tied last week.
- Oliver led all receivers with 146 yards on seven catches.
Riley Hoff caught a team-high nine balls for 100 yards, and Richter (5 rec., 40 yards) and Young (3 rec., 39 yards) also produced for Mines.
- Seeton's 100-yard day was his fifth of the season and fourth straight. The senior carried 16 times.Â
- Dvorak's 81.8% completion rate was a season high and his best since a 23-for-26 game in 2014.
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Chase Nicholas' 12 tackles were a career high, while Bauer had a career game with seven tackles, a sack, the interception, and another break-up.Â
- Chad Hovasse led Adams State with 13 catches for 132 yards. Jorge Hernandez was 32-of-52 for 269 yards.
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Austin Toussaint got his first start at placekicker and was perfect on PATs. He also punted for a 39.0 yards average with one inside the 20 and a long of 52.