Grand Junction, Colo. --- The South Dakota Mines football team made the long trek to Grand Junction to take on the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks in RMAC play on Saturday afternoon.
In the first quarter, neither team could get their offense in gear. The Mavericks scored first with a 46-yard field goal by Lucas Ruiz Diaz. The first quarter would end with the Mavericks leading 3-0.
The second quarter was not much different than the first as the Mavericks still held a 3-0 lead with seven minutes left in the half. The Mavericks scored the first touchdown with a 63-yard pass to Keenan Brown from Karst Hunter with 6:08 to play in the half. The Hardrockers would put together a drive of their own on the next series.
Jeremiah Bridges would have a 22-yard run in the series. The Hardrockers would find the endzone with 2:45 left in the half.
Jayden Johannsen finds Bridges for a four-yard pass to bring the score to 10-7 Mavericks. The Hardrocker defense was huge late in the half forcing the Mavericks to turn the ball over on downs inside the red zone with thirty seconds to go in the half. The Hardrockers trailed the Mavericks 10-7 at the half.
Hardrockers Halftime Stats
Offense
Passing – Johannsen 104 yards
Receiving – Orlando Westbrook-Sanchez 38 yards
Rushing – Bridges 22 yards
Defense
Tackles –
Hunter Newsom (7)
Team
Total yards for the Hardrockers – 144
Sacks – 3
The Hardrockers started the second half with the ball and marched down the field on a 45-yard pass from Johannsen to
Isaiah Eastman. The Hardrockers punched it in the endzone on a five-yard run from
Bryan Lumsden. The Hardrockers take the lead 14-10 with 12:00 left in the third quarter. With the Mavericks driving down the field, the Hardrockers defense comes up huge with a sack on third and nine.
Kyante Christian blew through the middle to drop Hunter. The Hardrockers' special teams got their moment in the sun when
Casey Knutsen punted a bomb down the field that the Mavericks couldn't handle and the Hardrockers recovered the fumble on the Maverick's nine-yard line. The Hardrockers couldn't capitalize on the turnover as they were stopped on the goal line to turn the ball over to the Mavericks. The score remained 14-10 with five minutes left in the third quarter. The Hardrockers end the third quarter on the Mavericks' five-yard line. The Hardrockers lead 14-10.
The Hardrockers would kick a field goal to start the fourth and take a 17-10 lead. The Hardrockers would increase their lead 24-10 on a 64-yard pass to Bridges from Johannsen. The Hardrocker defense continued to step up big in the next series causing the Mavericks to punt after a third-down sack by
Amire Jones. The Mavericks would take advantage of an interception driving 39 yards for a touchdown to cut into the Hardrocker lead 24-17 with 9:55 left in the game. On third and 13 Johannsen connects with Bridges on a 60-yard touchdown pass and the Hardrockers go back up by two touchdowns 31-14 with 7:30 to go in the game. The Hardrocker's
Gavin Chaddock sacked Hunter and the Mavericks had to punt again with five minutes left in the game. The Mavericks couldn't convert on a fourth and three and South Dakota Mines regained the ball with 3:00 minutes to go in the game. The Hardrockers sealed the deal with a first down with 2:15 left and won the game.
The Hardrockers came away with a 31-17 victory to move to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC.
Notes –
Jayden Johannsen was 25-44 for 335 yards in the air with three touchdowns.
Jeremiah Bridges had a huge game catching eight passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns. Bridges also had 37 yards rushing to lead the Hardrockers.
Hunter Newsom ended the game with 11 total tackles, while
Kyante Christian finished with 1.5 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.
