Mines Football Ranked Number Eight in Nation

The excitement continues around the electric, fast paced and high volume football team. As they continue their success going forward, there are many obstacles that they look to overcome. Being the 8th ranked team in the nation can add great amounts of pressure to the game, but the team has stayed tough and look to continue with what they started.

Junior quarterback Justin Dvorak has been the man guiding the team to a very successful start to the season thus far; Dvorak is ranked in the top five for almost every stat in Division 2.

“Sticking together and taking it one game at a time is how we have been successful to this point of the season,” Dvorak said. Not only have they handled the obstacles exceptionally well, they have dealt with the preseason hype.

“The success has given us confidence during the games,” junior defensive back Caleb Courkamp said. “We worry about our jobs, and don’t worry about external problems. The only team that can beat us is us.”

“I would say it’s been for the better. It’s been nice to see our play be recognized,” Dvorak added. “It’s another incentive to play well and represent this school in an area other than academics.”

Junior wide receiver Ty Young feels the team has the right mentality. “As a team we always expect to win and have success. And I think we have always had a winning mentality and with the success we had last year we know what it takes to win and how we have to get there.”

Courkamp agreed with Young’s view on the team. “After last year’s success we were expecting it again this year. With the new coaching staff we were a little iffy at first if we could adjust, but they have made it easy for us to continue to do our thing, and made it easy for us to continue to win.”

With the added pressure of being undefeated, and nationally ranked number 8, there could be some obstacles that arise for the team.

“This is our first season with a new coaching staff, so adjusting to new personnel has been the biggest obstacle. Yet, it’s still been a smooth transition,” Dvorak said.

Although the Diggers are taking it one game at a time, they obviously have one game circled on the schedule: CSU Pueblo.

“They’re the reigning DII National Champs, so we want to knock them off. We still have to take a ‘one game at a time’ approach until we get there,” was what Dvorak had to say about their later in the season matchup.

Look for the football players to continue their undefeated streak as they go on the road against Western New Mexico.