GOLDEN, Colo. --- In a battle between the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference top two offenses, it was Colorado School of Mines that got off to a fast start backed by the play of one of the NCAA Div. II best athletes as the Orediggers stunned South Dakota Mines, 56-28, Saturday afternoon in Golden Colo.

The Orediggers had five scoring drives in the first quarter before the Hardrockers were able to get their bearings. At the end of the first, Colorado Mines led 35-0.

The visitors were able to regroup and put up 14 points in the second stanza. The first was a Dorian Cowart (junior) eight-yard TD run after an 11 play 65-yard drive. That was followed by an Evan Sanders (senior) to Marcus Sanchez (senior) 30-yard touchdown reception capped by a 72-yard drive. SD Mines trailed 35-14 midway through the second quarter when the Orediggers got two more scores before the end of the half.

Colorado Mines led, 49-14 at the half.

SD Mines answered early in the third quarter when Sanders hooked up with junior Isaiah Manley on a 46-yard TD strike after a four-play 61-yard drive. Later in the period, Sanchez caught a 10-yard reception for a touchdown after an 80-yard 11-play advance.

At the end of the third, the Hardrockers had chipped into Colorado Mines' lead trailing by 21 points, 49-28. Sophomore place kicker Robbie Jo Gerarden made good on 4-4 for PAT's. The Orediggers added one more TD in the fourth quarter for the eventual outcome, 56-28.

CSM proved why they have the No. 1 offense in all of NCAA Div. II, with 693 yards of total offense Saturday. SD Mines posted 441 yards of total offense, netting 323 through the air and 118 on the ground. The Hardrockers recorded 23 first downs to 36 by Colorado Mines.

Individually for the Hardrockers, Sanders, who entered the game midway through the first quarter after starting quarterback junior Jake Sullivan left with an injury, played well in relief, completing 20-31 passes for 284 yards with three TD passes and an interception. Sullivan was 6-15 for 39 yards and interception before leaving the game.

Cowart led the ground attack with 54 yards on 10 carries and a score and junior running back Connor Silveria added 14 carries for 38 yards.

Nine receivers caught passes for the Hardrockers Saturday. Sanchez had an outstanding day, catching nine reception for 159 yards and two scores. Manley hauled in one pass for 46 yards and a score while Cowart had 44 yard on three catches and senior Rashad Ridley had six receptions for 30 yards.

On the other side of the field, senior Oredigger quarterback Justin Dvorak finished the game with 324 passing yards and made good on 22 of 36 attempts with five passing touchdowns. He also led CSM on the ground, rushing the ball 11 times for 115 yards and two rushing TD's.

Defensively for the Hardrockers, freshman Harrison Beemiller led the way with 10 total tackles, junior EJ DeViex and sophomore Chris Counce both had six tackles and junior Michael Harlan added five tackles including one for a loss of yards. Junior Rafael Arellono recorded four tackles and three pass breakups; and senior Jamir Moore had four tackles and one pass breakup.

"Hats off to Coach Brandon and his team for their fine performance today," said Hardrocker football head coach Zach Tinker. "We did not play well enough to win today but I was proud of the spirit we played with in quarters two through four."

The loss drops SD Mines to 5-2 on the season and 4-2 in the RMAC. The conference standings are now a little crowded at the top with five teams posting 5-2 records. SD Mines, Black Hills State, Colorado Mines, Colorado Mesa and Western State all have identical records.

Next up, the Hardrockers return home to O'Harra Stadium Saturday to renew a rivalry with Chadron State in "The Battle For The Eagle-Rock Trophy. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. 

"We can't wait to come home and play in front of our fans next weekend as we renew our rivalry with Chadron State," Tinker added.