BLACK HILLS STATE  vs.  No. 5 Colorado Mines   SATURDAY, OCT. 9 // 1 P.M. // SPEARFISH, S.D. // LYLE HARE STADIUM Live Stream / Live Stats / Radio / Game Notes / Tickets / Gameday Central

Black Hills State football is back home this week to take on No. 5 Colorado Mines on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. at Lyle hare Stadium.

This Yellow Jackets (4-1, 2-1 RMAC) look to continue their hot start as they take on the RMAC leading Orediggers (5-0, 3-0 RMAC), currently ranked fifth nationally.

Heroes Appreciation Day
Saturday's game will also be BHSU's annual Heroes Appreciation Day as we honor our veterans and first responders and their families for their sacrifices throughout the game and leading up to gameday.

Heroes Day Dinner
On Thursday, Oct. 7, the Yellow Jacket football team will host a Heroes Day Dinner at 6:30 p.m. in the Young Center Fieldhouse where a group of around 30 heroes, including veterans, law enforcement, and emergency responders will join the student-athletes.

There, the football team will split into groups, each led by one or two of our heroes, where together they will swap out helmet decals from the "BH" logo, to a military-style sting logo unique for Saturday's game. The event will also create open dialogue between our heroes and the football student-athletes.

Game Ball Delivery
On gameday prior to kickoff, the game ball will be delivered to the field by retired Sergeant First Class, Dana Bowman via the sky as he parachutes onto the field with the ball. Following the National Anthem, he will also be honorary captain for the coin toss.

About Dana Bowman
Dana Bowman has astounded the nation and the world with his drive, determination, and will to succeed. He is a retired Sergeant First Class with the U.S. Army where he was a Special Forces Soldier and a member of the U.S. Army's elite parachute team, the Golden Knights. Dana Bowman is a double amputee. He lost his legs in an accident during the annual Golden Knights training in Yuma, Arizona, in 1994.

On February 6,1994, Bowman gained worldwide attention when he and his teammate Sgt. Jose Aguillon collided in midair during the team's annual training.

Bowman and Aguillon were practicing a maneuver known as the Diamond Track. The maneuver calls for the jumpers to streak away from each other for about a mile and then turn 180 degrees and fly back toward each other crisscrossing in the sky. Bowman and Aguillon had demonstrated the Diamond Track more than fifty times without a mistake, but this time was different.

Rather than crisscrossing, the two skydivers slammed into each other at a combined speed of 300 miles per hour. Aguillon died instantly. Bowman's legs were severed from his body, one above the knee and one below the knee. Bowman's parachute opened on impact. He was taken to a hospital in Phoenix where doctors closed his leg wounds and stopped his internal bleeding.
 
Nine months later, he turned this tragedy into a triumph when he became the first double amputee to re-enlist in the United States Army. Bowman re-enlisted in the United States Army airborne style, skydiving with his commander into the ceremony, making his dream a reality. This achievement is just one example of Bowman's many successes under adverse circumstances.
 
After Dana's re-enlistment, he became the U.S. Parachute Team's lead speaker and recruiting commander. Dana has been fortunate to have the opportunity to let his speeches touch so many from the physically challenged to the able-bodied. He strives to show physically challenged people can still work and excel in today's society and military. Dana emphasizes the words amputee and uselessness are not synonymous.
 
Dana has given more than 400 speeches in the last few years and has been featured in magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Reader's Digest, People and many more. There have also been numerous television programs which focused on Dana and his story. Some of the programs include: Dateline, A Current Affair, Real TV, NBC Person of the Week, Day and Date and Extra.

Dana retired from the United States Army in 1996. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in commercial aviation at the University of North Dakota in May of 2000.

Dana spends a great deal of his personal time working with other amputees and disabled or physically challenged people. "Dana inspires other amputees to walk again. His future plans are to continue to speak to the public and fly helicopters.

For more information, please visit DanaBowman.com.

Last Time Out
Black Hills State football took care of business on Saturday, Oct. 2, defeating Fort Lewis 45-17 at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.

BHSU totaled 543 yards of total offense, led by running backs Matthew Collier (103 yards) and Nolan Susel (100 yards), who each also had a receiving touchdown.

Chance Eben had another big game, scoring five total touchdowns, including three passing and two rushing. He completed 17 of 29 passes for 169 yards while adding 58 yards on the ground.

Connor Boyd led receivers with six catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns, the first (and second) touchdowns of his collegiate career.

On defense, Doodles Quinones led the way again with nine tackles. Aaron Thiele made five while Cody Hooker and Favour Maurice each made three.

Colorado Mines
The Orediggers are currently No. 5 in the AFCA DII Coaches' rankings with their 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the RMAC to start the season. Over their four games, CSM has outscored their opponents 190-51 after they were picked to win the conference. The team finished with a 12-1 record in 2019, and their last regular season lost came on Nov. 3, 2018 at Dixie State.

Series History
This will be the 11th meeting all time between the two programs dating back to their first meeting on Oct. 27, 1962, and the first since Sept. 14, 2019. BHSU is looking for its first win over the Orediggers.

Weather Forecast
According to the 10-day weather forecast, the weather on Saturday, October 9 in Spearfish, S.D. projects showers with a high of 61 degrees and a low of 46.

Coverage
Yellow Jacket fans can catch Steve Ammerman on The Eagle Country at 95.9/96.3 FM or live online at MyEagleCountry.com. Ammerman is the voice of the Yellow Jacket Athletics and can be heard for every football and women's/men's basketball game throughout the year.

Homecoming Comeback
BHSU trailed Adams State 24-3 at halftime of their Sept. 25 matchup before winning 51-48 in double overtime. Overcoming the 21-point deficit is the team's largest comeback since a 28-point comeback on Sept. 2, 2017 - also against Adams State. That season, BHSU had three wins in which they came back from down at least 18 points.

Largest Comebacks Since 2012 (Division II Era):
Down 28 points - Sept. 2, 2017 vs. Adams State (W, 47-41 2OT)
Down 21 points - Sept. 25, 2021 vs. Adams State (W, 51-48 2OT)
Down 18 points - Sept. 23, 2017 vs. South Dakota Mines (W, 25-24)
Down 18 points - Sept. 30, 2017 @ N.M. Highlands (W, 50-40)

Off to a Good Start
With their four wins to open the 2021 season, the Yellow Jackets are off to a 4-1 record, their best start since the 2016 season when they started 5-1 and finished 7-4 overall.

First for Breske
Since being hired on as head coach in 2019, Josh Breske had only 2 games under his belt entering the 2021 season. After a wait of nearly two years, Breske earned the first win of his head coaching career on Sept. 2 in a 30-24 victory over Dickinson State.

Breakout Year for Collier
RB Matthew Collier entered this year with only 22 total yards in his collegiate career, all accumulated in 2019. Now in his junior season, he's already scored five touchdowns while accumulating 536 rushing yards. He's run for over 100 yards, three times this season, totaling 174 against Adams State (9/25), 125 against Dickinson State (9/2), and 103 at Fort Lewis (10/2).

Captains
The Green and Gold Captains for the 2021 season are Jacob Parks, Kielar Harphame, Keyshawn Farmer, Cody Hooker, Clayton Koch, Lathan Stevens, Jarrell Ganaway, Joseph Moraga and Jordan Pace.

Key Returners
Some with the help of the covid year, key returning seniors include WR Kielar Harpham, DL Jarrell Ganaway, OL Joseph Moraga, LB Cody Hooker and K Jacob Parks who holds the school record for longest field goal (53 yards).

Key returning juniors include S Bailey Rosenstrauch, DB Brady Morris, OL Sam Ambrogio and WR Jordan Pace.

Quarterback Chance Eben leads the returning sophomore class along with WR Hasaan Williams and WR Mitch McKibbon, OL Troy Mittelstedter, DL Morgan Tigner and DL Nikolas Arnold.