RAPID CITY, S.D. --- After a surreal week in which the South Dakota School of Mines football team seen some national attention and a lot of exposure, the Hardrockers are locked in on their next opponent and ready to do battle with New Mexico Highlands University Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas, N.M.
 
The Hardrockers won their second game in a row last weekend at O'Harra Stadium, defeating Adams State in a shootout, 56-42, in what turned out to be a record-setting performance for SD Mines.
 
Unless you've been off the grid, you've surely heard of the outstanding performance of the Hardrocker football team led by running back Connor Silveria. The senior from Redding, Calif., broke the NCAA Div, II rushing record with 425 yards on 46 carries (9.2 yards per carry) to go along with his three first-quarter touchdowns - beating the old record held by Southern Connecticut State's Jarom Freeman, who rushed for 418 yards in 2007.
 
The Hardrockers also broke the single-game rushing record as a team, racking up 538 yards as well as the total yard record now at 705. That is thanks to the play of the Hardrocker offensive line -- Jack Batho, Harrison Irwin, Robert Schrock, Grant Smith and Austin Roth.
 
Silveria now leads the conference and is third in the nation in rushing with 1,028 yards and is sixth in country and first in the RMAC in rushing touchdowns with 11. He is also the team's third-leading receiver with 22 catches for 211 yards and four scores. He was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week and also eclipsed the old Hardrockers' school record held by Jim Guthrie (1977) and Kevin  Ptak (1996), which was 245 yards. The 'Rockers are also second in the conference in rushing yards (1,764).  

SD Mines quarterback Jake Sullivan went 11-for-20 for 167 yards and two touchdowns through the air and rushed for another 73 yards and three more scores as on the season he's thrown for 1,847 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for another 269 yards and eight scores. Isaiah Manley leads the team in receiving with 45 catches for 674 yards and six scores. As a team, SD Mines is second in the conference and ninth in the NCAA in scoring at 43.1 points per game.

The Cowboys fell on the road to Black Hills State 42-7 last Saturday afternoon in the snow.
 
NMHU turned the ball over on each of their first two possessions of the game, leading to short fields and touchdown drives for the Yellow Jackets. The Cowboys cut the lead to 14-7, but a late touchdown in the first half and a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half by BHSU put the game out of reach.

Senior running back Dione Alston paced the offense, rushing for 118 yards on 23 carries (5.1 yards per carry) as he racked up his fourth 100-yard game of the season and has rushed for 676 yards on the year - good for sixth in the conference. However, the offense mustered just 116 yards outside of Alston.

Defensively, Tre Haynes led the team with nine tackles (including 1.5 for a loss) while Anthony Miller and Cameron Forziati had six tackles apiece (Forziati had two tackles for loss).

On the season, quarterback Danny Cameron has thrown for 1,192 yards and 12 touchdowns while his leading receiver is D.J. McFadden with 28 catches for 374 yards.

Brown leads the defense with 53 tackles while Eli Schoettmer is second with 49 and Forziati is third with 48 - including 3.5 sacks.
 
This will be the third meeting between these teams with the Hardrockers leading the series 2-0.
 
Game is slated for a 1 p.m. (MST) start.