The Colorado School of Mines football program’s dominance of the RMAC is in serious jeopardy.

For the second time in four weeks, the 10th-seeded Orediggers did not lose to an in-state opponent, and eighth-seeded Western Colorado racked up 469 total yards en route to a 38-28 victory at a packed Marv Kay Stadium.

The Mountaineers (8-0, 6-0 RMAC) took a 31-7 lead in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, then held out on the final drive, dropping Mines (6-2, 4-2) to fourth place in the RMAC standings with their second conference loss of the season.

The Orediggers have lost two conference games overall and won at least a share of the last five RMAC trophies; This is a streak that dates back to the 2018 season. But with three conference games remaining and losses to the two teams ahead of them (Western Colorado and Colorado Mesa), the Orediggers face an uphill climb to keep their streak alive.

Quarterback Drew Nash did the most damage to the Mountaineers, throwing for 209 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for another 88 yards and a score; The second gave them a 31-7 lead with 14:53 left. Braeden Hogan threw for 148 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries for Western Colorado, which hosts CSU Pueblo (7-1, 6-0) next Saturday, a matchup of the conference’s top two ranked teams.

Western Colorado’s defense sacked Mines quarterback Evan Foster seven times, three of which came from Ricky Freymond.

The redshirt senior signal caller completed 21 of 30 passes for 323 yards and three of his four touchdown passes came during the Orediggers’ desperation rally in the fourth. But it was too little, too late to escape with victory in front of a stadium record 7,813 fans.

Receivers Flynn Schiele (five catches, 136 yards, 2 TDs) and Max McLeod (8-107, 1 TD) were Foster’s primary targets, while Mark McCurdy hit a 43-yard field goal with 8:04 left to put Mines within 31-yards. pulled. 31st with 8:04 left. But Western Colorado responded with a five-play, 75-yard march capped by Hogan’s second field goal of the day to effectively end the game.