Right off the bat, the Chadron State College football team will play one of its biggest games of the season. The Eagles will open its Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule by tangling with Colorado Mines in Golden at noon Saturday.
During the preseason voting by conference coaches, Mines was pegged to finish second and the Eagles third this fall. Both teams have playoff aspirations, but the loser Saturday will likely have an uphill battle to make it happen. Through the years, it has been difficult for a team to qualify for the playoffs if it has more than a single loss in the conference.
Each of the eight Chadron State teams that have reached the Division II playoffs was undefeated in the conference or lost just once in league play.
Mines was 8-1 and CSC 7-2 in the RMAC last season. Mines and CSU-Pueblo, also 8-1 in league games, advanced to the playoffs, but the Eagles were denied a bid.
Despite having a new head coach this fall, the Orediggers have their season off to a fast start. They defeated South Dakota Mines 63-28 in the opener and blasted William Jewell College of Missouri 42-7 last Saturday.
One of the Orediggers' stars is quarterback Justin Dvorak. He was the RMAC's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year choice and has been the conference's Offensive Player of the Week after both games this fall.
A junior from Tomball, Texas, Dvorak completed 37 of 49 attempts for 555 yards and tied the RMAC record for most touchdown passes when he threw for eight against South Dakota Mines in the season opener.
Last Saturday at William Jewell, Dvorak connected on 26 of 38 passes for 276 yards and four TDs.
During the Orediggers' 33-18 win over Chadron State a year ago, Dvorak completed 23 of 37 passes for 198 yards and one TD, and also ran 23 times for 107 yards and scored three times.
"He can hurt you with both his arm and his feet," CSC defensive coordinator
Jeff Larson said. "Our defense knows that they've got a big job coming up."
Dvorak was one of seven Mines players who were placed on the RMAC Preseason All-Star Team. Others included placekicker-punter Avery Llewellyn, who was selected the Special Teams Player of the Year.
The Orediggers' new coach is Gregg Brandon, who previously had been the offensive coordinator at New Mexico State. He took over after Bob Stitt, who had compiled a 108-62 record in 15 season at Mines, moved to the University of Montana last December.
The Eagles hope to be at full strength for Saturday's game. At Missouri State, neither cornerback
Conor Casey nor defensive tackle
Mitch Collicott saw action because of injuries, but they are expected to be available.
The Eagles are 1-1 after playing two game in Missouri. They defeated Missouri Science and Technology in Rolla 40-27 in the season opener, but Missouri State won 21-13 last Saturday in Springfield.
