SPEARFISH, S.D. – The South Dakota Mines football team went north for the 138th meeting between the Hardrockers and Black Hills State. As has so often been the case during Coach Flohr's tenure, South Dakota Mines was ready to play on the road.
They put together a dominant performance on both sides of the line of scrimmage getting dominant play from their offensive line and defensive line on the way to destroying Black Hills State for four quarters.
How It Happened – The first couple of drives led to no offense, but when South Dakota Mines got the ball midway through the first quarter they began to march down the field, finishing off a 16-play, 80-yard drive with a completion from
Jayden Johannsen to
Max Hoatson with 14:10 left in the second. On the following Black Hills State drive, the Hadrockers made a 4
th down stop with
Casey Knutsen and
Kaleb Tischler to combine for it. The offense would march down to the other end for a 70-yard TD drive on 11 plays finished off by a 4-yard Johannsen run. Another Yellow Jacket drive would end scoreless with their second missed field goal, and the Hardrockers took advantage again. This time it was eight plays for 67 yards and a second connection, this time for 32 yards from Johannsen to Hoatson, and the score going into the locker room was 21-0 in favor of the Hardrockers.
In the third quarter, Black Hills State was threatening and looked like they were in position to score on a long Tanner Clarkson run, but at the last second
JJ Nelson swooped in and stripped the ball away, with
Will Lester coming up with the ball. Offensively, the Hardrockers were not able to do anything with it, but multi-faceted Johannsen punted the ball 73 yards to flip the field. Unfortunately, Black Hills State would come down and score regardless, but it was a significant momentum shift. Later, an even bigger momentum shift came when a shanked punt from the Yellow Jackets went 15 yards. One play later, Johannsen found
Ben Noland for a 45-yard touchdown, going into the 4
th quarter with a 28-7 lead.
The 4th quarter would start with another fourth down stop with Tischler making a great play to take down Nolan Susel for a loss of 4. Offensively, the Hardrockers would take advantage again, completing a 5-play, 52-yard drive with a Johannsen run from 9 yards out, taking a 35-7 lead. Another defensive stop would follow as the Hardrockers got a sack from
Jacob Schwab followed by a 4
th down sack by
Levi Dickerson and William Lester to get the ball back again. A couple of plays later,
Ty Harris dashed through a gaping hole, untouched for 65 yards. Black Hills State would answer by returning a kick with Simon Lovenski returning it 94 yards. The Hardrockers would add one more for good measure with
Dawson Dunbar running it up the gut for an 18-yard score to give the Hardrockers a 49-14 edge that they would hold on to.
South Dakota Mines moved to 3-2 (2-1) with the 49-14 victory.
Notes –
Jayden Johannsen was great through the air and on the ground, going 19-30 for 237 yards and three scores, and adding 78 yards on the ground and two more scores…
Ty Harris recorded 101 yards on the ground on just 8 carries, including a long of 65 on a touchdown…
Max Hoatson and
Ben Noland each had five catches for 72 yards and 89 yards while Hoatson had two scores and Noland had one…The defensive front 7 was dominant recording 7 tackles for loss and four sacks.
Jacob Schwab and
Wren Jacobs each had a full sack…
JJ Nelson forced a fumble near the goal line that was recovered by
Will Lester.
Up Next – Things don't get any easier for South Dakota Mines as Western Colorado comes into town. Currently, the Mountaineers are ranked #16 in the AFCA poll but are likely to move up after a 43-7 win over Colorado Mesa.
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 13 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.
