GOLDEN, Colo. - John Matocha and Max McLeod linked up for three touchdowns to lead #2 Colorado School of Mines past South Dakota Mines, 45-22, to stay unbeaten.

The Orediggers (7-0, 5-0 RMAC) shut down the Hardrockers (3-4, 2-3 RMAC) in the first half as Matocha threw for 344 yards and tied a career high with five touchdown passes, and McLeod compiled 133 yards and three scores. Mines ran out to a 31-0 lead through the middle of the third quarter and never looked back.

The win kept Mines both undefeated and in a tie with Western Colorado for first place in the RMAC. With #7 Grand Valley State's win over #1 Ferris State on Saturday, the Orediggers are likely to be the nation's #1 team when the polls are announced Monday.

The Hardrockers' Ben Noland was outstanding, catching 16 passes for 137 yards, as Jayden Johannsen tried to will his team back in the second half with 265 yards and three touchdowns. 

It was an unsettled start to the game as the Hardrockers punted their opening possession away before Elrey Brooks III intercepted Matocha on the Orediggers' first play from scrimmage. The home team earned a red zone turnover on downs, however, dropping no-gain tackles on consecutive plays with Nolan Reeve and Kyle Bahnsen on 3rd and 1, and a team effort led by Peyton Rose and Hayden Gregg to halt a quarterback sneak on 4th and 1 at the 15. From there, Mines drove 85 yards for their first score, a three-yard Noah Roper run, to take the lead late in the first quarter.

The Orediggers wouldn't score against until the midpoint of the second quarter, but it would break the game open as Matocha hit McLeod in stride over the middle and he rolled 54 yards to score. A muffed punt recovered by Hall Edmonds on the Hardrocker 3 set the Orediggers up later in the quarter, with Matocha dumping a short pass to Landon Walker for six and a 21-0 halftime lead.

Mines scored on the opening drive of the second half with a 12-play journey finished by Hunter Pearson's 37-yard field goal, then were set up for another big play thanks to Konnor Mickelsen's 31-yard punt return into Hardrocker territory as Matocha found McLeod on the first play for a 37-yard touchdown. The Hardrockers got on the board on their next possession with Johannsen's 17-yard pass to Henry Dryden, making it 31-7, but the hosts answered back with McLeod's third of the day, a five-yard strike, the next time down the field to close the third quarter up 38-7. 

Dryden would catch two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, from five and 17 yards, to give South Dakota Mines a glimmer of hope, but Mines chewed up clock and scored the game-sealer with 1:43 remaining on Blake Smotherman's first career touchdown, a 12-yard drop over the middle from Matocha, with 1:43 remaining.

NOTABLES
- A week after setting the RMAC all-time passing touchdown record, Matocha again surpassed former Oredigger QB Justin Dvorak, this time for the RMAC total touchdowns mark which Dvorak held at 161. Matocha's five touchdown passes took him to 164. 
- Meanwhile, McLeod continued to move up the Mines receiving record book as he surpassed Adam Saur for third on the career touchdowns list with his 32nd, 33rd, and 34th. He also moved up a spot to sixth on the yards list at 2,785.
- Pete Sterbick is only the third Mines coach to start his career 7-0, joining Gregg Brandon (also 7-0 in 2015) and Thomas Beadle (9-0 in 1898).
- Neither team established the run very much as SDM was held to only 32 net yards on the ground. Noah Roper led the Orediggers with 48 yards and Landon Walker had 31 as the Orediggers produced 103 on the ground.
- Jackson Zimmermann had a first-half interception, his fourth of the season and third in two games for the reigning RMAC Defensive Player of the Week.
- Jaden Healy led the Mines defense with seven tackles, while Zimmermann added six stops to his interception.
- Both Reeve and Jaden Williams, with six total tackles each, surpassed 200 career tackles in the game.
- The Orediggers had three sacks with Reeve, Bahnsen, and a combo of Gregg and Peyton Rose getting quarterback hits. 
- Pearson remained perfect on PATs this season going 6-for-6 in the game. 
- The Orediggers won their 30th consecutive home RMAC game, a streak that runs back to the 2016 season. Mines also improved to 23-1 against their South Dakotan counterparts.

NEXT UP
The Orediggers head to Black Hills State next Saturday.