Football: 'Rockers stake claim to win over Jackets

By Jeff Budlong, Journal staff | Monday, November 10, 2008

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RAPID CITY — It had been a long time since the South Dakota Mines football team had seen the Homestake Trophy. So when the final seconds of the Hardrockers’ 24-23 victory over Black Hills State ticked off, the race was on.

A swarm of Mines players gathered around the trophy given to the winner of the rivalry game as the celebration kicked off between fans and players. Chances are the party will last long into the night.

Five years between conference wins over a rival makes victory something to savor for a little longer than usual.

“This is so big … we finally got the trophy back,” Mines running back Jamie Dale said after rushing for 148 yards and two scores. “The seniors worked really hard, and they got what they wanted.”

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Hardrockers as they finished the season 5-5 and dealt the Yellow Jackets some payback for a 33-13 loss they suffered in a non-conference game earlier this season.

“This is the most fun game I have ever had, and to go out like this was unbelievable,” Mines senior defensive back Chad Westendorf said after securing the first win over BHSU in his career.

The Hardrockers’ victory was in question until the final seconds as the Yellow Jackets took possession of the ball at their own 38 with 1 minute, 14 seconds to go. Four straight pass completions — including three from quarterback Drew Hodgs to Joe Beehler — put BHSU down to the 10-yard line with 18 seconds.

Instead of kicking the potential game-winner from there, BHSU head coach John Scott elected to run one more play to try to line the kick up for Corey Wheeler, who was subbing for the injured Micah Nielsen who normally handles the kicking duties.

Tanner Ehrlich ran the ball up the middle on third down for a first down conversion, but in the confusion BHSU — which was out of timeouts — had players running on and off the field and did not get a clean kick off as time expired with penalty flags flying for too many men on the field.

“It was poor clock management on my part,” Scott said. “The intent was to get the first and then clock it. We went on third and had the play called. We got it, but there was just a little hesitation with the chains, Mines had a guy down for a second and then all of the sudden we had extra-point guys running on and off which is just unacceptable. It was my fault.”

Mines’ drive to the win began with its first possession of the second half. Trailing 10-3, Mines used Dale’s legs and a 15-yard pass completion from Nick Russell to Tyler Barth to tie the game at 10 on a Dale 6-yard run.

Dale was questionable for the game after suffering a knee injury two weeks ago. Although he said his knee hurt after the game, there was little evidence of it during the game as he carried the ball 29 times.

James Lemke looked to have BHSU back in business when he returned a punt all the way to the Mines 13-yard line, but all that came out of the penalty-filled drive was a 35-yard field goal attempt by Wheeler that was blocked.

The Hardrockers would capitalize as Ed Waliczek hauled in a 38-yard pass on second-and-24 before Dale ran the final 5 yards four plays later to give Mines its first lead of the game at 17-10.

The ’Rockers could have expanded on their lead as the defense forced a three-and-out on the next possession and drove to the BHSU 47 before coming up a yard short on a fourth-and-3 trying a quarterback sneak.

BHSU would tie the game on a Tanner Ehrlich 3-yard touchdown run and seemed to be on its way to a win when senior Tyler Tetrault stood up Dale in the backfield, ripped the ball out of his hands and ran 58 yards for the score. The extra point was blocked, making the score 23-17.

“I was scared. I thought I lost the game,” Dale said. “One of the coaches came up to me and said ‘the great thing about football is you get a second chance’ and we did.”

After a failed drive, the Mines offense found its footing again as Russell went to Barth three times through the air and Dale redeemed himself with a 17-yard reception to put the ball on the 3 before Russell barreled in for the score.

Sophomore Andy Smith — who was not with the team at the beginning of the season — booted the extra point to secure the eventual winning point. Smith was a perfect 3-for-3 on PATs on the day and booted a 47-yard field goal in the first half for his team’s only points going into the locker room.

“Andy Smith has just been a real addition to the team … and he has made the transition from soccer to football which is not easy to do,” Mines head coach Dan Kratzer said. “When we get in that 50-yard range, we feel he can kick them. Those three points were the difference and he was solid on the extra points which was key.”

Scott had preached special teams all season long and it finally ended up costing the Yellow Jackets on Sunday.

“We got the extra point blocked, and Corey is going to be a little more deliberate because he hasn’t been doing it all season,” Scott said. “We wanted to get it as close as possible for it and centered … it didn’t work and it is bitter for me.”

Black Hills State opened the game extremely strong going 59 yards in four plays as Ehrlich ran the final 23 for the score. However, he was limited the rest of the day due to a shoulder injury, forcing senior Lemke into a bigger role leading the team in rushing.

For Mines the victory means another step forward for a program trying to turn the tide.

“We finally won a close one and got over the hump,” linebacker Tyrell Anderson. “We know how to win and we can keep doing it next year.”