SPEARFISH, S.D. - Black Hills State gave #1 Colorado School of Mines its best shot, but a second-half surge by the Orediggers helped them win 42-17 on the road.

The Orediggers (8-0, 6-0 RMAC) trailed 17-14 at halftime, but outscored the Yellow Jackets (4-4, 3-3 RMAC) 28-0 in the second half with John Matocha throwing for five touchdowns and Max McLeod catching three. 

Matocha, who started his 50th career game, became the RMAC's all-time total offensive yards leader in the game, surpassing former Oredigger Justin Dvorak as he now has 14,834 career yards. Matocha threw for five touchdowns for a second consecutive week in a 23-of-35, 323-yard day, finding seven different receivers led by McLeod's nine-catch, 101-yard, three-touchdown game and Flynn Schiele's 96 yards off four receptions. Landon Walker matched his career high with 130 yards on 21 carries to lead Mines' ground game. 
 
The Orediggers held BH quarterback Tanner Clarkson to 9-of-21 in the air and made a second-half adjustment to contain him on the ground. TJ Chukwurah had 94 yards receiving, but was limited to two catches for 17 yards after catching a deep ball for a touchdown on the opening drive.

Turnovers were key for Mines after giving up an early fumble with Devyn Lauer recovering a fumbled punt, Jackson Zimmermann snaring an interception, and Evan Alexander causing and recovering a fumble to set up the offense. 

Black Hills State scored on the third play of the game, going over the top for a 77-yard strike to TJ Chukwurah; the Orediggers' first offensive drive was promising until a fumble across midfield, and the Yellow Jackets drove down within the five before Hayden Gregg and James Hess combined for a sack to force them to settle for a 25-yard field goal and 10-0 lead in the middle of the first quarter. 

The Orediggers put together a terrific follow-up drive capped by Matocha's 23-yard back-shoulder touchdown pass to Nick Stone to break the RMAC's total offensive yards record. Black Hills went for it on fourth down twice on their next drive but Jaden Williams' open-field tackle generated the turnover on downs on the second try; Mines would be gifted with a fumbled punt return after going three-and-out, with Devyn Lauer falling on Josh Wojciechowicz's forced fumble at the BH25 to give the Orediggers new life. Matocha cashed in on the turnover two plays later, hitting McLeod over the middle for a 25-yard score and the first lead of the game at 14-10.

The Yellow Jackets went back ahead with a one-yard Nolan Susel run after Clarkson found Hasaan Williams on a 54-yard scramble, and the two sides traded punts to finish the half.

Mines was efficient in its first drive of the second half and it resulted in a 23-yard McLeod touchdown catch to take a 21-17 lead. Jackson Zimmermann's interception in the middle of the third eventually produced Matocha's fourth touchdown pass of the afternoon as he converted 4th-and-4 to Stone before Zach Hoffman caught a leaping 16-yard score at the near pylon to make it a two-score game, 28-17. 

The Orediggers generated another defensive takeaway early in the fourth quarter with Evan Alexander batting down and recovering a backwards pass at the Yellow Jacket 29 that was upheld on review, but were held to a 45-yard field goal attempt that was missed with 11:57 remaining. That would ultimately not matter as BH had a quick out and Matocha marched Mines 85 yards downfield to finish on a six-yard pass to McLeod for a 35-17 lead. The hosts would go three-and-out on the next drive to give Mines the ball back with 4:08 to go, and the Orediggers nearly killed all of the clock as Chris Yoo punched in a one-yard touchdown with 26 seconds left to ice the game.

NOTABLES
- With his touchdown pass to open the third quarter, Matocha moved past former Ferris State QB Jason Vander Lann for second all-time in NCAA Division II history in total touchdowns. He now trails Tyson Bagent (171) for the national record with 169, throwing for 145, rushing for 23, and catching one in his career.
- Matocha's new RMAC total yards record also moved him up to fifth all-time in D-II history, now behind Southwest Baptist's Steven Gachette (15,235). 
- McLeod tied his career high with three touchdown catches for a second straight week and notched his seventh 100+ yard game in eight weeks. McLeod now stands at 37 career touchdowns - third all-time at Mines - and is on the cusp of becoming Mines' third 3,000-yard receiver with 2,886 in his career. 
- Head coach Pete Sterbick became the first Mines coach since 1898 to start his career 8-0, since Thomas Beadle went 9-0 nine years before the legalization of the forward pass.
- Zimmermann has a team-leading five interceptions this season including picks in three consecutive games.
- Mines produced 435 total offensive yards to 312 for the Yellow Jackets, and controlled the second half to finish with a healthy time of possession advantage (32:53 to 27:07). The Mines defense limited BH to 89 yards in the second half, with 38 of that coming on the Yellow Jackets' final possession with less than 30 seconds to go. 
- Jaden Williams led the defense with six total tackles including a career-high three for a loss. Hayden Gregg also had six stops with a half-sack, while Jaden Healy was a problem with five tackles, a batted pass, and three hurries. 
- Black Hills State had the best performance by an Oredigger opponent this year on third down, converting 6 of 13. Mines, meanwhile, was 9-of-16 on third down and also went 2-for-2 on fourth down.
- Blake Doud had another excellent punting game averaging 49.8 yards per punt.
- Mines is 13-0 all-time against Black Hills State.
- It was the second time this season Mines won after trailing at halftime.
- The Orediggers lost the coin toss for the seventh time this season and 17th time in their last 20 tries; Mines is 17-0 when losing the coin toss dating back to the start of the 2022 season. 

NEXT UP
The Orediggers return home to face nationally-ranked Western Colorado, also 8-0 overall, on Oct. 28 at noon. The game will likely determine the RMAC champion and be a potential playoff preview.