SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University football team saw a streak of five consecutive Swarm Days victories come to an end on Saturday afternoon as they fell 36-27 to (RV) Colorado School of Mines. Despite a dominant third quarter, fueled by a pair of turnovers forced by the Yellow Jacket defense, the Green & Gold were unable to overcome a 14-0 start to the game by the Orediggers in the opening quarter.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 27, #RV/-- Colorado School of Mines 36
Team Records: Black Hills State 1-4 (1-2 RMAC), #RV/-- Colorado School of Mines 3-1 (1-1 RMAC)
Attendance: 3,561
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After being forced to go three and out on the opening drive, freshman punter Mason Crosby flipped the field with a 64-yard punt that bounced out of bounds at the CSM 5-yard line. Despite pinning Colorado School of Mines deep in their own territory, that quickly changed as on the first play of the drive Joseph Capra kept the ball and ran 60-yards to the BHSU 35-yard line. Two plays later Capra found Aksel Richard for a 34-yard touchdown down the right sideline with 12:15 remaining in the first quarter. The extra point by Preston Kyle was good to make it a 7-0 ball game.
• While the Yellow Jacket offense went three and out and lost a fumble, the Orediggers added to their lead with a 24-yard pass from Capra to Pierce Richards down the middle of the field in the back of the end zone with 1:25 left on the clock in the first quarter. Kyle added the PAT to make it a 14-0 contest.
• Black Hills State was able to trim the deficit in half as they went on a 10-play, 86-yard drive, taking 6:16 off the clock. Aiding the drive were runs of 11-yards by Danny Davis and 12-yards by Cameron Goods, in addition to a 12-yard pass play from Luke Duby to Bryce Coulson and a 26-yard pass play from Duby to Kelby Olson. The drive ended in the end zone as Duby scrambled seven yards around the right side of the line for his first rushing touchdown of the year with 10:04 to play in the second quarter. Ryan Ewing tacked on the extra point to make it a 14-7 game.
• With the help of a 44-yard pass play from Capra to Richards, CSM was able to work their way into field goal territory, where Kyle was able to split the uprights on a 47-yard field goal with 7:24 to play to extend their lead to 17-7. Following a touchback on the kickoff, the Oredigger defense was able to force a fumble on the first Yellow Jacket play of the drive, which was recovered by TJ Salmen in the end zone for a safety with 7:11 on the clock. Colorado School of Mines then took advantage of getting the ball back after the safety, capping a 5-play, 58-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Capra to Nick Stone inside the right pylon with 4:43 remaining in the half. Kyle added the extra point to make it a 26-7 game.
• Black Hills State was able to gain momentum entering the halftime break with an 8-play, 87-yard touchdown drive on their final offensive possession. Goods got the drive going with a 15-yard rush on the opening play and then added a one-handed catch in the left flat that went for 15-yards on a critical 3^rd Down & 10 to extend the series. Then a 24-yard pass from Duby to Olson moved the ball into CSM territory, where the Yellow Jackets would cap the drive with a 31-yard pass from Duby to TJ Chukwurah for the ninth time this season with 1:18 left on the clock. Ewing's extra point would make it a 26-14 game.
• Colorado School of Mines had one last opportunity to possess the ball before the break, as a pair of 11-yard pass plays form Capra to Stone moved the ball into field goal range, and Kyle made a 43-yard field goal attempt as the clock expired to make it a 29-14 game.
• The BHSU defense swung the momentum early in the second half, as on just the third play of CSM's opening drive Luke Clay forced a fumble and Hayden Umble recovered the ball at the CSM 29-yard line. The Yellow Jacket offense then converted the turnover into three points as Ewing split the uprights on a 24-yard field goal attempt with 9:28 on the third quarter clock.
• The defense continued their big start to the second half, picking off the Orediggers on their second possession, as Joshua Faulkner notched his second interception of the year while Cooper Brown forced Capra to throw on the move out of the pocket. The offense then quickly moved the ball down the field with a 17-yard pass play from Duby to Olson, followed by 38-yard rush by Goods to get the ball to the CSM 7-yard line. Two plays later Goods capped the drive by taking a pitch to the left into the end zone for his first touchdown of the year with 4:51 to play in the third quarter. Ewing's extra point then trimmed the deficit to 29-24.
• After the teams traded punts to end the third quarter, Colorado School of Mines was able to score their final points of the contest in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, pushing the game out of reach as Capra scrambled to the right side of the field for a 6-yard rushing touchdown with 14:05 left in the game. Kyle's extra point made it a 36-24 game.
• The final scoring drive of the afternoon for BHSU took 4:38 off the clock, going 57-yards in ten plays. Big plays on the drive included a 22-yard pass from Duby to Chukwurah and a 13-yard pass from Dubby to Danny Davis. The Yellow Jackets were unable to finish the drive in the end zone; however, Ewing knocked through his second field goal of the day with 9:27 remaining, this time from 35-yards out to make it 36-27.
• The Orediggers were able to ice the game away despite any other scores, taking more than four minutes off the clock on each of their final two possessions, while their defense forced a fumble and recovered for the turnover on the final Yellow Jacket offensive possession.

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Luke Duby: 25-for-40, 283 passing yards, 1 passing touchdown, 1 rushing touchdown
Cameron Goods: 6 rushing attempts, 75 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown, 12.5 yards per rush
Kelby Olson: 6 receptions, 110 receiving yards
TJ Chukwurah: 6 receptions, 60 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown
Rune Tepolt: 12 total tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss
Jack Gentile: 10 total tackles
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State remains at home next Saturday, October 4, as they are set to host South Dakota Mines for the 140^th Black Hills Brawl. They look to retain the Homestake Trophy and snap the streak of four consecutive victories by the road team in the series, as the two west river rivals meet for a 6 p.m. kickoff at Lyle Hare Stadium.
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