After a string of blowout victories in RMAC play, the Colorado School of Mines football team had to gut one out in Gunnison.
The 16th-ranked Orediggers scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to rally from 17 points down and beat Western Colorado 30-20 to lock up at least a share of the conference crown.
Running back Michael Zeman scored three times in the second half, including two TDs in the fourth quarter, to help turn what was once a 20-3 game into an improbable Mines win. Quarterback John Matocha bounced back after throwing three picks to hook up with Max McLeod as part of four consecutive Oredigger TDs to close out the game.
Matocha finished the game with 346 yards on 27-of-40 passing, while Zeman totaled 89 yards on 24 carries and Josh Johnson hauled in five passes for 146 yards.
The Orediggers (7-2, 7-0 RMAC) had won each of their first six conference games by 27 points or more, but the Mountaineers (5-4, 5-2 RMAC) made sure they would have to earn their RMAC title.
QB Connor Desch threw for 243 yards on 19-of-36 passing, with the last of his two TD passes to Alec Fonseca giving Western a 17-3 edge with 13:29 in the third quarter. But two interceptions soon followed — from Cam Forrest and Jaden Williams — as part of three fourth-quarter takeaways for the Mines defense, and the game swung dramatically in the other direction.
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