HOUGHTON, Mich. – The South Dakota Mines football team headed to Houghton, Michigan for a long trip up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but did not show any effect, at least early on as they got off to a good start, 14-0 and 28-7 early in the second half, but Michigan Tech came storming back and earned a hard-fought victory in four overtimes, 52-50, sending South Dakota Mines to 0-2 on the season.
How It Happened—South Dakota Mines got on the board early, starting the game with a six-play, 79-yard drive that ended in a 33-yard touchdown pass from
Jake Martinelli to
Mason Galbreath. After a defensive stop forced a punt, the offense went right back to work, this time embarking on a 12-play, 72-yard drive that also ended in seven points, with Martinelli finding
Holden Gilbert from the backfield.
There wasn't anything slowing the offense down at the point as the Hardrockers would put together another big drive of 80 yards on seven plays midway through the second quarter, finishing with a touchdown pass from Martinelli, this time to
Colton Grover and would expand the lead to 21-0.
Michigan Tech would answer this time, going 80 yards on 10 plays on a pass from quarterback Alex Fries to Darius Willis. The two teams would go into the half with the same score, the Hardrockers leading 21-7.
The Hardrockers would continue to roll early in the half with
Elrey Brooks III picking off a pass on the first play of the second half. Offensively, South Dakota Mines would take no time capitalizing on the good field position, taking just four plays to go 42 yards and take a 28-7 lead on a powerful 12-yard run by
Ty Harris.
Michigan Tech would answer again, however, with Ethan Chumpney being a big piece of the drive, but Fries connected with Drew Collins to narrow the Hardrockers lead to 28-14.
South Dakota Mines' offense continued to move the ball at a high level, immediately answering with a 10-play, 74-yard drive. This time,
Dawson Dunbar punched it in.
The next two scores would belong to Michigan Tech, first after a recovered fumble, they would convert from nine yards out. Prior to the score, however, the Hardrockers defense made a play, getting a big-time sack from
Caden Vinduska on a crucial third down play. After getting the ball back, they would eat the rest of the third quarter and go into the, scoring with 14:14 on the clock, cutting the Hardrockers' lead to 35-28.
Another big defensive play would come from South Dakota Mines with Michigan Tech on the move, they tried to throw it deep, but
Kaleb Tischler was there to pick it off. This time, the offense couldn't take advantage and gave it back to the Huskies, only to see them tie up the game, going 80 yards on eight plays.
Both teams would have shots offensively in the last couple of minutes, including a 55-yard field goal attempt from
Connor Taylor but could not score, pushing the game to overtime.
Neither team could stop the other in overtime as the Hardrockers converted a 4th and 1 on a run by Martinelli to eventually find Grover for the touchdown a few plays later.
Michigan Tech answered in two short plays, with Fried who set a school record in passing yards with 457, found Champney.
In the second overtime, it was Michigan Tech's turn to start with the ball and put a score on the board and went for a two-point conversion which was also converted, giving them a 50-42 lead, putting the pressure back on SDM.
On 3rd and goal,
Jake Martinelli rolled out to the right of the pocket and didn't find anyone open only to move through his reads and find a wide-open
Max Hoatson across his body and fired it for the score. Martinelli would find
Alex Sturn on a shovel pass to convert the ensuing two-point conversion.
In the third overtime, the teams were forced to go for only two-point conversions and neither team was successful.
Michigan Tech was able to convert their attempt in the fourth overtime.
South Dakota Mines' turn in the fourth overtime was thwarted on a swing pass that was deflected, sending the Hardrockers to 0-2 on the year.
Notes – Jake Martinelli had a phenomenal game in his second career start, throwing for 443 yards and five passing touchdowns, but also thriving in the run game, gaining 62 yards on the ground…
Dawson Dunbar and
Ty Harris each scored on the ground…
Mason Galbreath set a new career high with 10 catches and 160 yards, also scoring…
Colton Grover caught two touchdown passes…
Alex Sturn reeled in four passes for 75 yards in his first career start…
Hunter Newsome led the team in tackles with seven, also recording three for loss…
Isaac Engle,
Thomas Fields and
Caden Vinduska recorded sacks…
Elrey Brooks III and
Kaleb Tischler each recorded an interception.
Next Up – The Hardrockers have finished up playing on Thursdays and will move back to Saturdays as their next opponent, Upper Iowa comes to O'Harra Stadium for a noon kickoff.
Fans can find the latest on South Dakota Mines football all year long on X and Instagram (@hardrockerfb), while also following on Facebook at Hardrocker Football. The latest on South Dakota Mines athletics can be found by following us on X at @GoHardrockers, hardrockerathletics on Instagram and Hardrocker Athletics on Facebook.
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.
