Mines lost its fifth straight game, falling to Western State Colorado 42-7 Saturday to end its season 5-6.

Mines turned the ball over five times in the loss.

"We actually, I thought, did a pretty decent job offensively, defensively and in the kicking game," Mines head coach Zach Tinker said. "I thought the game was going to come down to turnovers and that's what it came down to."

WSU put up 594 yards of offense, including 406 yards passing from quarterback Brett Arrivey.

Arrivey went 26-for-37 for five touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Four of his five touchdowns went to Kyle Adkins, who had eight receptions for 204 yards.

"We were just able to attack the outside," Adkins said. "A lot of times they were giving us the sideline and we just had to take advantage of that."

WSU was able to take advantage of holes in Mines defense on its first drive, when Adkins caught a 19-yard pass from Arrivey with 11:38 remaining in the first quarter.

Early on, Mines showed an ability to move the ball with senior quarterback Ben Broeker, who finished 20-for-42 with 224 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

When Mines would get close to scoring range, however, it would usually stall and be forced to punt.

The Arrivey-Atkins connection would strike again later in the first quarter, this time when Atkins got wide open and caught a 57-yard bomb to make it 14-0 with 2:17 left to play in the first quarter.

Atkins would find himself in a zone all game, as he later caught touchdowns from 27 and 15 yards.

"It's really about reading the coverage and knowing what we're running, you really have to analyze what we're doing and what they're trying to do," he said. "It just comes down to executing on every play."

At halftime the score was 35-0 and Mines came out with new energy. It limited the Arrivey-Atkins connection and on its first drive of the half and Broeker found fellow senior Rashad Ridley for a 4-yard score.

After another stop, Mines began to drive down the field, but a fumble by Broeker as he was entering the red zone took all the wind out of the Hardrockers' sails.

Arrivey would add a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:42 left in the game to seal the deal.

WSU running back Vince Gasso also had a big impact for the Mountaineers, running for 152 yards on 27 carries.

"This was different, we haven't had something like this happen to us in a long time," Tinker said. "We weren't in the game because of our errors, but we were in a lot of games this season and I thought the kids played hard. We didn't get a lot of breaks in the second half of the season but we got a lot of breaks in the first half of the season."

Tinker said he was disappointed that a group of seniors that he has grown to admire and respect so much had to leave the program on a five game losing streak.

"They've been unbelievable and that's why I feel bad for them. They've earned a better finish than what I gave them so I feel for them here," he said. "They are a better group than the results they've had the last five weeks."