GOLDEN, Colo. - #12/15 Colorado School of Mines controlled the game from the start, blowing out to a huge third-quarter lead on the way to a 45-20 win over South Dakota Mines at Marv Kay Stadium.

The Orediggers (5-1, 3-1 RMAC) led 42-6 through three quarters led by the potent aerial attack of Evan Foster, who passed for 319 yards and four touchdowns, and the duo of Max McLeod and Flynn Schiele, who each had two touchdowns as McLeod had 172 yards and Schiele 126 through the air.

The Mines defense shut down the Hardrockers (3-4, 2-3 RMAC) on the ground and produced an opening-drive pick-six by Will Ramsey as they held SDM to 287 total yards of offense.

Ramsey got the home team on the board on the game's second play, jumping a Jake Martinelli pass for a 30-yard house call only 12 seconds into the game, but the Hardrockers answered with a 65-yard drive that ended in Connor Taylor's 25-yard field goal. That would be the Hardrocker's final points of the first half, however, as the Orediggers responded with an explosive 50-yard Foster-to-McLeod connection to lead 14-3 at the end of the first quarter, then used a big Schiele catch to the 1 to set up Landon Walker's wildcat scoring play to open the second. Schiele got on the board with a terrific 24-yard effort with 4:08 left in the half to take a 28-3 lead into the break.

The Hardrockers were stopped early in the third quarter and had to settle for Taylor's 36-yard field goal to cut it to 28-6, but the Orediggers responded with more big plays. Schiele's second touchdown of the day came on a 46-yard catch-and-run as he outran four defenders to score on the next possession, and Mines' defense mounted a goal-line stand on the ensuing drive with Blake Ramsey forcing a fumble recovered by Josh Pollard. They then drove 97 yards downfield to convert points on McLeod's 18-yard catch, all but ending the game at 42-13 with 3:20 left in the third.

SDM put two touchdowns on the board against the Oredigger backups early in the fourth, on catches by Henry Dryden and Max Hoatson, and the Orediggers added points on Matthew Eich's 34-yard field goal late in the game.

NOTABLES
- McLeod became the second player in program history and 11th in D-II history to reach the 50-touchdown plateau, joining Brody Oliver with his 50th and 51st catches. With 4,266 career yards, McLeod moved up to 16th on the D-II all-time list.
- Hayden Gregg was a force to lead the defense with a game-high seven tackles. Brady Zingelmann had a sack, Pollard had 1.5 tackles for loss to go with his fumble recovery.
- Ramsey's pick-six was Mines' first defensive touchdown of the season. The Orediggers also had a would-be 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by Devyn Lauer-Duarte called back on a penalty. 
- Walker finished with 59 yards on 10 carries as the Orediggers rushed for 159 yards overall using seven ball carriers.
- Three quarterbacks saw time in the game as Jake Sype was 2-for-6 for 10 yards and Joseph Capra was 3-for-6 for 22 yards and also ran for 23 in addition to Foster's play.
- Blake Doud averaged 51.2 yards per punt on four tries with a long of 68, and pinned two inside the five. 
- Martinelli finished 25-of-40 for 235 yards and two touchdowns for the Hardrockers. 
- The Orediggers won their 19th consecutive home game at Marv Kay Stadium, improving to 53-5 since 2015.
- Colorado School of Mines improved to 24-1 all-time against their South Dakotan counterparts in a series that dates to 1917.

NEXT UP
Mines heads to Adams State in Week 7.