GOLDEN, Colo. — Colorado School of Mines redeemed its 2021 shortcoming in the semifinals in historic fashion. The Orediggers hosted their first-ever NCAA DII semifinal at Marv Kay Stadium in front of a sold out standing-room-only crowd of 6,191 fans -- and won.
"It's an amazing feeling," senior quarterback John Matocha said. "It's extremely hard to win college football games at this level, especially this deep into the playoffs and I think that the home field and the alumni and the students and all of the fans out there absolutely had a part to play in this game and I'm extremely thankful for them."
Matocha had more than his own part to play in the 44-13 win over Shepherd University. The senior captain went 28-of-34 for 371-yards and five touchdowns.
Brandon Moore, who took over as the head coach in January 2022, made history with the Orediggers after leading his team to their 13th victory.
"We learned that we can do it. We learned that we belong to be in those big games. We belong to be competing for championships. We belong in those high impactful moments," Moore said.
Mines will face Ferris State, the reigning NCAA DII national champions. No team has won back-to-back national championships since Northwest Missouri State won in 2015 and 2016. The Orediggers will fight to prevent that.
"It's where we belong. This is the expectation," Matocha said. "The job's not done, we still have one more to play and I'm already eager to start watching film and get ready for it."
The national championship game between Ferris State and Colorado School of Mines will kick off in McKinney, Texas, on Dec 17 at 11am MT.