Golden, Colo. – The Black Hills State football team lost its first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest to No. 23 Colorado School of Mines 42-19 on Saturday afternoon.
BHSU's Randall Hill forced a fumble on the Oredigger's first possession and the Yellow Jackets drove down the field with an 11-play, 64-yard drive that ended in a Trent Butler touchdown.
The Orediggers tied the ball game with a 10-yard pass from quarterback Matt Brown to David Pawelek.
In the first half, quarterback Ward Anderson threw for 125 yards with a completion rate of 76.1 percent. Ward was picked off once by CSM.
"Ward came into his own a little bit, we just got to keep nurturing him and things are coming together," said head coach John Reiners. "We have got to learn to finish games, finish drives and keep our defense off the field and things will happen."
Senior Daniel Hancock had eight receptions for 62 yards in the first half. During the second quarter, Ward found Hancock for a long gain to Orediggers' three-yard line, but the play was brought back due to a holding penalty.
"We had two explosive plays on offense that got called back. We got make sure that if it is a holding we keep our hands in, whatever it is," said Reiners. "We got to make sure that when we get those big plays, we have to be able to let them go."
The Yellow Jackets went into the halftime trailing 21-7 after two CSM unanswered touchdowns.
BHSU came out with intensity in the second half and on their first possession Anderson found Bryar DeSanti and DeSanti did the rest by weaving through the Oredigger defense for a 56-yard touchdown. That Yellow Jacket touchdown brought BHSU within eight of CSM 21-13.
"We saw again that we can throw the ball, we just have to continue to make plays. I thought that our offensive line protected very well against a good defensive line, they brought a lot of stunts, a lot of blitzes at us," said Reiners. "I thought getting the ball in Bryar DeSanti's hands is huge, that kid can play at this level and he showed it."
A crucial play in the game occurred in the third quarter when the CSM punt returner botched the punt and BHSU recovered the ball. Unfortunately, the referee blew an inadvertent whistle when the CSM player touched the ball and the Yellow Jackets were forced to re-punt.
The Orediggers soon pulled away to take a 13-42 lead. DeSanti found the end zone one more time, out running the defense off a short Ward pass for a 43-yard touchdown. That would be the last time either team scored and the game ended with a final score of 19-42.
The Yellow Jacket defense was able to force two Oredigger fumbles. Trent Turbiville and Joey Brown led the Yellow Jackets' defense with 12 and nine tackles, respectively. Austin Haynes and Brady Clark both added seven tackles. Reiners emphasized reducing the amount of time the defense was on the field.
"We did get some big hits on that quarterback and we did make him make some throws, we got some turnovers early that kept us in the game and our defense kept battling," said Reiners.
The Orediggers relied on their air attack as quarterback Matt Brown was 37-for-63 for 407 yards and three touchdowns.
The Yellow Jacket offensive line provided good protection for Anderson throughout the game. Anderson ended the game 27-for-47 for 332 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. DeSanti was the Yellow Jackets' biggest producer through the air with 103 yards. Hancock added 11 receptions for 69 yards.
Anderson led the Yellow Jackets on the ground with 55 yards.
BHSU will hold its first home game of the year next week against Colorado Mesa for Swarm Days. Kick off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Lyle Hare Stadium.
"It is going to be nice to be at home, to have that week where everything is normal; you are going to class Friday, you are going to practice and I know that it is going to be a great atmosphere. I can't wait for it. It is going to be very electric" said Reiners.
