Dante Basanese

RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Michigan Tech football team once again used a full team effort to bask in victory with a 45-9 decision on the road over South Dakota Mine at O’Harra Stadium on a windy Thursday evening.

“I thought we did a lot of things well,” said Tech head coach Dan Mettlach. “Getting up 14-0 you’d like to stay on the gas at that point and I thought it could’ve been 28-0 going into halftime but overall I like how the guys played. We know we’ve got some young guys, but we also know the expectations and we’ll get things fixed.”

Despite the long trek to the Mount Rushmore State, the Huskies were primed and ready from the jump, with the defense forcing a fumble on the first drive with defensive tackle Pierce Miller forcing a fumble on the Hardrockers second play of the day. The Black and Gold followed that up with a blocked punt by Desmond Mullen, tracked down by Kolby Hindenach for Michigan Tech’s first touchdown, setting the tone for the night defensively.

The Huskies’ offense got on the board minutes later, utilizing the run game and a pass interference call to set Drew Collins in position for a two-yard quarterback keeper, making it 14-0 with 5:12 to play in the opening quarter.

Defensively, the Black and Gold held the opposition to just 35 yards in 16 plays, going one-for-four on third-down conversions in the first quarter as Jaiden Bolden earned his first career interception with 47 seconds to play.

The defense ramped it up to close the first half, forcing no third-down conversions on four tries and holding the Hardrockers to just 5:31 minutes on offense, gaining 62 yards in 16 plays.

South Dakota Mines closed the first half of action with a 41-yard field goal, sending the teams to the halftime break seeing the Black and Gold ahead 21-3.

Out of the break, Michigan Tech got a 51-yard run from Jake Rueff after Nic Nora returned the punt 26 yards, setting up first and goal before Alex Bueno found Ethan Champney for a diving grab in the end zone from six yards out.

The Huskies’ defense continued to make big-time plays in the second half, highlighted by a sack by Connor Hindenach for an eight-yard loss, a fumble recovery by John Hagelstein forced by Dante Basanese and the first career interception by Jimmy Targosz.

Bueno finished the day with 151 yards passing and two touchdowns (17-for-26) with 33 yards on the ground in six attempts and a rushing touchdown.Nora led the receiving group with 68 yards on six receptions.

The Huskies will shift to a normal schedule next week, taking to the road for a trip to Hillsdale on Saturday at 1 p.m.