RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The 1970 South Dakota Mines football team will be honored at halftime of Saturday's football game against Chadron State.
The team is celebrating the 50
th anniversary of being crowned the SDIC Conference champions. It was the second conference championship in school history. The 2020 team will be wearing the "M" logo that the 1970 team wore during that season.
From the 1971 media guide about the 1970 team:
"The 1970 Hardrockers, a young squad boast three seniors, opened their season slowly, losing their first three contests. Even in these losses, however, the Tech gridders showed a good potential and a remarkable tenacity under adverse conditions.
In the opening game, for example, Tech trailed Colorado College 35-14 in the second half, but rallied to a 35-34 edge with less than a minute to go. That score was the final as a two-point conversion call went against the Hardrockers. The second game was also a cliff-hanger, with Rocky Mountain scoring with 26 seconds remaining to edge Tech, 13-10.
The Hardrockers displayed a potent offensive attack in the early going, virtually rewriting the college passing records. Sophomore end Gary Eschenbaum quickly gained respect as one of the top receivers in the district.
The Hardrockers gained their first win against Huron College in a hard fought 12-7 battle. From that point in the season, they posted a 5-1 record, losing only to non-conference powerhouse Chadron State.
The Tech crew made a pattern of coming from behind in an explosive manner. Two major victories, that determined the final championship finish were over Dakota State, whom the Hardrockers edged, 32-28, after trailing, 28-13; and Norther State, a 36-34 squeaker that at one time saw Tech trailing, 27-6.
The Hardrockers' potent offense balanced the passing gains of such standout receivers as Eschenbaum, Don Leitner and Gary Bertnick, with the hard running gains of Bertnick, Dave Berg and Todd Tiahrt.
Defensive standouts were many. Selected to conference honors squad were linemen Pat McMahon and Chuck Foldenhauer, and defensive back Chuck Wait. This trio had much help and the entire defensive unit returns for the 1971 season."
Team members will be honored by logging into a zoom meeting and then will be displayed on the video board during halftime on Saturday.
