GOLDEN, Colo. - On a day when Colorado School of Mines celebrated its 150th birthday, its football team made sure the party would be one to remember.

Records were shattered as the #4/7 Orediggers (4-0, 2-0) scored 35 first-quarter points on the way to a 52-24 win over Black Hills State (2-2, 1-1 RMAC) before a record 6,958 fans at Marv Kay Stadium.

Flynn Schiele set the stadium record with the second-most receiving yards in program history, catching 13 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns, and Max McLeod became Mines' second 4,000-yard career receiver with his nine-catch, 89-yard, three-TD day. Evan Foster had a career day throwing for six touchdowns among his 434 yards and 27-for-35 efficiency, including four touchdown passes in the first quarter alone.

Mines jumped out to a 35-7 first-quarter lead and never looked back as the defensive starters held the Yellow Jackets at bay in the first half. The Orediggers compiled 581 yards of total offense to BHSU's 382, and held the Yellow Jackets to 76 net yards on the ground.

Mines led 14-0 before Black Hills State even had an offensive snap thanks to two quick scoring drives around a surprise play. Foster found McLeod for a 37-yard strike only 1:39 into the game, and a shock onside kick from Matthew Eich - recovered by Devyn Lauer-Duarte - set Mines up at midfield, where Landon Walker rumbled 53 yards to score on the first play to lead 14-0.

The Yellow Jackets responded with a quick drive of their own to score on Cameron Goods' six-yard catch from Luke Duby, but Mines showed its lightning-fast offense for the rest of the quarter, with a big Schiele catch setting up McLeod for a three-yard score, a 36-yard Schiele catch in double coverage making it 28-7, and a turnover on downs leading to Schiele's second in a row, this time from eight yards, to go up 35-7 at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter was a completely different situation as BHSU bled 8:33 off the clock to score on Ryan Ewing's 38-yard field goal, but Mines got in the end zone with eight seconds to go before halftime on McLeod's third touchdown of the first half, a seven-yard strike from Foster, to lead 42-10 at the break.

Schiele's third touchdown came early in the third quarter on a 41-yard bomb, and Eich tacked on a 28-yard field goal later in the quarter. With the Mines backups getting virtually the entire fourth quarter to play, BHSU added two touchdowns to make it a 52-24 final.

NOTABLES
- McLeod joins Brody Oliver (4,010 career yards) as only the third RMAC player to eclipse 4,000 career receiving yards. They are the only two program-mates in Division II history to reach the milestone. McLeod, who now has 4,002 yards, will likely eclipse Oliver's program record next week.
- Schiele had a monster day with the most receiving yards by an Oredigger since 1970, when Mike Collodi had 310 against Westminster. He averaged a whopping 22.8 yards per catch on 15 targets.
- Schiele's yards were the most in a game in NCAA Division II this season and the second-most in all of college football behind Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan's 304 for Arizona against New Mexico. 
- Although Mines' two star receivers shined on Saturday, Landon Walker was not to be denied on the ground as he carried only seven times but compiled 92 yards and a touchdown to average 13.1 yards per carry.
- Joel Diaz led the Mines defense with a career-high eight tackles. Although Mines did not have a sack, they had constant pressure on the Yellow Jacket backfield with nine hurries led by two each from Jaden Healy and James Hess.
- Blake Doud did not have to punt in the first half, but the two he had in the second half were beauties including a 63-yarder to average 53 yards in the game. 
- Eich improved to 4-for-4 on field goals this season, and made all seven PAT opportunities. 
- The attendance of 6,958 set a Marv Kay Stadium record, surpassing the 6,191 that saw Mines beat Shepherd in the 2022 national semifinals. It was the fifth consecutive home sellout dating back to last season.
- Mines improved to 9-0 in Homecoming games at Marv Kay Stadium.
- Mines extended its national-best conference winning streak to 26 straight games dating back to 2021. 

NEXT UP
The Orediggers head to Colorado Mesa on Oct. 5 in a battle for the Nyikos Cup.