DURANGO, Colo. - Colorado School of Mines closed the 2025 season on a high note, running away from Fort Lewis in a 55-21 win at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.

The Orediggers (7-4, 5-4 RMAC) scored on their first seven possessions, generating 601 yards of offense behind quarterback Joseph Capra's four touchdown passes and Josh Snyder's 183 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Five different Orediggers scored touchdowns as Pierce Richards, Connor McGrath, Nick Stone, and Connor Cade all caught touchdowns. Capra was 21-of-29 for 210 yards - mostly in the first half - while the Mines running game racked up 335 yards with Braelon Tate adding 69 yards to Snyder's total.

The Skyhawks (2-9, 1-8 RMAC) ran 20 fewer plays than the Orediggers (79 to 59) as Mines dominated the time of possession and held FLC to 5-of-14 on third and 0-of-3 on fourth downs. 

Capra started 6-for-6 in manufacturing a 93-yard opening drive for the Orediggers, capped by a three-yard touchdown strike to Nick Stone, but the Skyhawks immediately tied the game when Michael Collins slipped a pair of tacklers to turn a short catch from Jacob Morris into a 55-yard touchdown. 

Another long Mines drive ended with a 13-yard Capra pass to a wide-open Pierce Richards, and the Orediggers opened the second quarter's scoring with Preston Kyle's 20-yard field goal to extend their lead to 17-7. 

Mines managed to find 10 points in the final minute of the first half as Capra marched the visitors 77 yards in nine plays to score on a 22-yard pass to Connor McGrath with 56 seconds to go, and then after a quick three-and-out, Kyle banged through a 55-yard no-doubter at the buzzer. 

On the first play of the third quarter, the Orediggers scored again when Josh Snyder blasted through the pile and escaped for a 70-yard touchdown run, but the Skyhawks answered moments later with a trick play thanks to Nicholas Minacapelli finding Jamille Humphrey on a 41-yard flea flicker. Snyder broke free again on the ensuing Mines drive, spinning off a tackle to rumble 67 yards to score and turn it into a 41-14 game less than five game minutes removed from 17-7. 

Fort Lewis scored on another long play with Zachary Gaumont catching a 51-yard touchdown from Jake Jones midway through the third quarter, making it 41-21, but Mines was gifted with field position just outside the red zone after the Skyhawks failed to convert a 4th-and-short situation. That led to seven more points as Capra found Jayden Reyes on 4th-and-2 to start the fourth quarter. Jake Sype closed the scoring with a 15-yard pass to Connor Cade as the defense worked a fourth-quarter shutout to end 55-21.

NOTABLES
- Hall Edmonds led the Mines defense with 10 tackles, a sack, and a pressure in his final Mines game. JJ Lee, another senior, had Mines' other sack. 
- Capra caught a pass on the opening drive thanks to a trick play where Tate flipped a handoff to Jake Sype, setting up the Orediggers' first touchdown with his nine-yard catch in the red zone. 
- Capra was 18-of-23 for 200 yards in the first half before Mines shifted to a run-heavy second half. Sype, in his final career game, was 4-for-8 for 32 yards with the touchdown, and Austin Gonzalez saw time at quarterback going 3-for-3 for 24 yards. 
- Pierce Richards, returning to the lineup, caught a game-high nine passes for 87 yards and a score. McGrath had 45 yards and Aksel Richard 38 as 14 different Orediggers caught at least one pass.
- Snyder's 183 yards were a career high as he ran the ball only 12 times, averaging 15.3 yards per carry thanks to his two big touchdowns. 
- Fourth downs were key in the game as Mines converted both of their tries - one for a touchdown and another leading to a touchdown - while Fort Lewis turned it over on downs three times on three attempts. 
- Kyle's 55-yard field goal was his second 50+ yard kick of the year. 
- In his final game as an Oredigger, Matthew Eich took over PAT duties and went 5-for-5. Eich finishes his Mines career with 204 points scored. 
- There were only five penalties total in the game and only one for Mines, a five-yard false start flag. 
- Mines won for the 18th straight time over the Skyhawks.