Orediggers rally to advance to regional final

The Orediggers aren’t done yet.

Riding an explosive performance from quarterback John Matocha, the Colorado School of Mines football team overcame a slow start to beat Minnesota State 48- 45 on Saturday at Marv Kay Stadium and advance in the NCAA Division II football playoffs.

The Orediggers will go on the road to meet a familiar foe, second- ranked Angelo State, next Saturday in the regional final. Angelo State, which beat Bemidji State 33- 7 on Saturday, took down Mines in a 30- 27 overtime thriller on Sept. 10.

Mines ( 11- 2) hasn’t lost since, ripping off 11 straight wins while scoring 30- plus points in each victory.

Mines had to survive a game Minnesota State ( 103) squad to advance in the second round, outlasting the Mavericks in a backandfourth shootout that produced 926 yards of total offense.

Matocha did the heavy lifting for Mines, throwing for 307 yards and four touchdowns and running for a season- high 106 yards and a score. Michael Zeman finished with 74 yards and a TD on the ground, while Josh Johnston hauled in three touchdown passes.

The Mavericks raced out to a 21- 7 lead after one quarter before Matocha took over.

The senior quarterback ran in a six- yard score to pull within a touchdown with 13: 09 left in the second quarter, then closed out the half with a pair of scoring passes to Johnston to knot the game at 28 going into the break.

Another TD pass to Johnston, this time from 3 yards out to start the third quarter, gave Mines its first lead since midway through in the first quarter.

eman ran in a twoyard touchdown to put Mines ahead 45- 31 with 11: 20 to go, and the Orediggers held off a desperate Minnesota State rally after that to move on.