RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The Hardrocker Football team took on Fort Lewis on Saturday afternoon, and after being a close game for the first half, South Dakota Mines pulled away, outscoring Fort Lewis 28-0 en route to a 42-7 victory, and a 4-2 start to the season, their best start since 2016.

The Hardrockers were able to get out to a fast start in the first quarter, despite turning the ball over on their first drive. The South Dakota Mines defense was able to pick up the offense, setting the tone early by getting a Kyante Christian sack, a foreshadowing of things to come for the Fort Lewis offensive line and quarterbacks. Once South Dakota Mines got the ball back, the offense would move the ball down the field with surgical precision, going 54-yards on 6 plays, passing touchdown from Jayden Johannsen to Isaiah Eastman for 16 yards to close out. South Dakota Mines would score another touchdown on their next drive, finished off by a Johannsen run from 1-yard out, after a 5-play 44 yards to lead 14-0, and would take that lead into the second quarter.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Hardrockers had been moving the ball, however on a jump-ball thrown to Collin Zur, the Fort Lewis defender came down with the ball for an interception. After that Fort Lewis would take advantage, scoring a touchdown, cutting into the Hardrocker lead, 14-7. Neither team was able to do much offensively the remainder of the quarter with the Hardrocker front 7 wreaking havoc on the Skyhawks. In total, the Hardrockers recorded 6 sacks in the first half.

The defense would continue to play well after the break and throughout the second half, pitching a shutout in the second half. The offense would join them, starting to heat up early in the half, scoring on their first two drives of the third quarter on a 52-yard connection from Johannsen to Jeremiah Bridges, and a 9-yard Kaleb Roth rush.

Offensively, the Hardrockers would keep rolling, scoring on their first drive of the fourth quarter, with Johannsen running it in from 5-yards out for his fourth touchdown of the game. The game would go into a lightning delay of about an hour, then the Hardrockers would pick up right where they left off with Spencer Zur orchestrating a touchdown drive, capped off by a Brandon Barrios 4-yard rushing touchdown to give South Dakota Mines the 42-7 lead that they would end the game with.

Leaders
Jayden Johannsen had a big game for the second straight week, throwing for 289 yards on 19-24 passing, adding 54 rushing yards and 4 total touchdowns…Kaleb Roth started the first game of his career and ran wild, gaining 128 yards on the ground…Both Jeremiah Bridges and Isaiah Eastman had 6 catches, with Bridges turning those into 117 yards and a touchdown, while Eastman had 86 yards and a touchdown…Will Carroll and Jacob Schwab recorded 9 tackles each, leading the team…Kyante Christian had 2.5 sacks.

About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 11 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.