If there were any doubts concerning the Colorado School of Mines football team, the Orediggers buried those reservations in a 42-17 trouncing of New Mexico Highlands University Saturday afternoon at Brooks Field
“I told the team to look around because there has never been a better team to take the field here at Mines,” CSM coach Bob Stitt said outside the Orediggers’ locker room, where a jubilant squad continued to shake the doors with the school fight song.
In the most significant football game in recent history, the Orediggers improved their overall record to 9-0, besting the benchmark set by the 1939 team that posted an 8-0 mark. Mines solidified its grip the top spot in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play at 6-0 and the win improved the Orediggers unbeaten streak to 11 games dating back to last season.
Mines won the contest with style befitting the team’s first televised game on Altitude Sports in front of a record homecoming crowd of more than 3,000 people that overflowed the home stands at Brooks Field, into the visitors’ bleachers and onto the track surrounding the field.
Quarterback Chad Friehauf completed 25 of 33 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns with two of those strikes going to Jonny Chan, who caught seven balls for 168 yards.
Running back Bryan Florendo ran five times for 56 yards and hauled in eight passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. Florendo spelled starting running back Craig Van Horn, who saw limited duty in the second half as he rested a hip injury.
“There was no point for Craig to go out there today,” Florendo said. “This win was a credit to the seniors who’ve been putting in the work for four or five years. I come in my second year and get to be a part of this. I’m lucky because I didn’t have to go through the lowly seasons.”
Memories of losing aren’t forgotten on the Golden campus but the skids have been relegated to a part of Orediggers’ lore.
Instead, this year’s team is focused on the excellence the squad expects each time they take the field and that quality was in full display against the Cowboys (3-6 overall, 2-4 in the RMAC).
Mines jumped to a 28-0 lead in the first half after Friehauf hit Derek Lis for a 6-yard score less than two minutes into the contest to set the tempo for the win.
Running back Garrett Mehl took a Friehauf handoff and threw a 7-yard touchdown to Chan, then scored his third rushing touchdown of the season from the 4-yard line midway through the second quarter.
Friehauf followed with a screen pass to Florendo, which he turned into a 59-yard romp for a 28-0 bulge.
The Cowboys broke the shutout with a field goal with 39 seconds remaining in the first half. The visitors scored their first touchdown of the game on the opening play of the second half as Jonny Ruff scampered 67-yards to the end zone.
Mines responded with a 1-yard connection from Friehauf to Derek Dykstra with 8:25 to play in the third quarter and then connected with Chan on an 82-yard scoring pass five minutes into the fourth quarter. The Orediggers’ defense had held seven of its previous opponents to seven points or less before NMHU scored a late touchdown for the final points of the contest.
Jared Heath led the defense with 12 tackles and said the extra curricular of television timeouts combined with homecoming fanfare before a capacity crowd did little to distract an Orediggers’ squad on a mission.
“The coach told us to keep our minds on the field because we knew that they were a dangerous team with a lot of athletes,” Heath said. “But we knew to get our jobs done on the field and not let the other stuff get in the way.”
The Orediggers continue their march on history at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30, when they host Mesa State College at Brooks Field. It will be the last regular season home game for Mines and could be the last game at Brooks this year unless the Orediggers receive a home playoff game.