SILVER CITY, N.M. – No. 8 Colorado School of Mines, currently undefeated on the season, will head to Silver City this Saturday for a Homecoming matchup with the Western New Mexico University football team beginning at 1:30 p.m. at Altamirano Field.
The Orediggers are 5-0 overall and 3-0 in RMAC play. Over the years, CSM and WNMU have had some back-and-forth matchups as recently as 2013 the Mustangs claimed a 25-22 Homecoming win over the Orediggers and that came on the heels of WNMU posting their first program victory over CSM in 2012 as they claimed a dominating 54-28 victory in Golden. Last year, the Orediggers entered the game ranked 16
th and had to record a late touchdown for the 44-37 victory.
WNMU enters with a 2-3 overall record and 1-2 mark in RMAC play. The offense has averaged 33.8 points per game and 497.6 yards per game.
Mitch Glasmann (Temecula, CA/Chaparral) enters the weekend just 409 yards short of setting the RMAC passing yards record and is already the record holder of the TD mark. So far on the season he has completed 136-of-231 attempts for 1,776 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Xavier Ayers (Albuquerque, NM/Albuquerque),
Marques Rodgers (Gardena, CA/Serra),
Larry Young II (San Diego, CA/Morse HS),
Evan Beebe (Chula Vista, CA/Mater Dei Catholic) and
Michael Ball (Rowland Heights, CA/Rowland) all have over 100 receiving yards. Ayers has tallied 588 on 37 catches and a TD. Rodgers has 34 receptions for 283 yards and two touchdowns, while Young II leads the team in TDs with seven, while catching 29 passes for 443 yards. Beebe has added 144 yards on 10 catches for three scores and Ball has nine catches for 167 yards and one score. On the ground, Rodgers has been elusive going for 681 yards on 100 attempts with six touchdowns.
Tyler Jackson (San Diego, CA/Ramona HS) has the team's other two rushing scores.
On defense,
Darius Guillory (Temecula, CA/Chaparral) leads in tackles with 37, as 17 have come solo. He also has a fumble recovery.
Dominic Barry (Moreno Valley, CA/Vista Del Lago) has 33 tackles, with 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and recovery.
Juwan Sumpter (Fallbrook, CA/Fallbrook HS) has added 30 tackles and leads the team in solo stops with 18 along with six passes broken up and seven passes defended. He also has a forced fumble and recovery.
Alfonso Wilson (San Diego, CA/Morse) leads in tackles for loss with eight and also had two sacks to tie for the team high with
Aaron Leauma (San Marcos, CA/Mission Hills) and
Johnny Delcoure (Fallbrook, CA/Fallbrook).
WNMU as a team leads the RMAC in passing yards per game at 358.8, which is good for fourth in the nation. They are also tied for first in fumble recoveries with six, which is 23
rd in the nation. The Mustangs are in the top-50 in the nation in blocked kicks (2), ranked 45
th, blocked kicks allowed (1), ranked 45
th, blocked punts (1), ranked 28
th, first downs (122), ranked 20
th, punt return yards per game (14.25), ranked 27
th and total offense (494.6), ranked 15
th. Individually, Rodgers is second in the nation and in the RMAC in all-purpose yards per game (210.20) and he also ranks high in several other categories including 18
th in receptions per game (6.8), 19
th in rush yards per carry (6.81), seventh in rushing yards and 12
th in rushing yards per game (136.2). Glasmann is third in completions per game (27.20), third in both passing yards and passing yards per game (355.2) and ninth in passing touchdowns. Ayers is fourth in receiving yards, fifth in receiving yards per game (117.6) and 12
th in receptions per game (7.4). Young II is seventh in receiving touchdowns. Sumpter ranks 39
th in passes defended per game (1.4).
The Orediggers counter with an explosive offense that is averaging 49.2 points per game, second in the nation and 514 yards per game, which is 10
th in the nation. Justin Dvorak has thrown for 1,681 yards and 20 touchdowns, while also rushing for 78 yards and four scores. Sam Seeton has tallied 473 yards on the ground and six touchdowns. In the air, his main targets have been Cole Spurgeon (28 catches, 473 yards and seven touchdowns), Nate Wiemers (26 catches, 324 yards and two touchdowns) and Ty Young (21 catches, 248 yards and three touchdowns). Six other receivers have caught at least one touchdown. The defense is led by Jeff Grenfell with 39 tackles, 22 solo, while he also has a sack and two interceptions. Adam Leonard has added 33 stops and an interception. Tommy Hoskins leads in sacks with 4.5.
Last week, CSM claimed a 51-6 victory over New Mexico Highlands and are 2-0 away from Golden with wins over William Jewell (42-7) and Black Hills State (62-22).
Live audio, video and stats will be available for the game.
