Chad Friehauf finished the regular season with a Division II single season record 4,319 yards of total offense. He will look to add to that total in the NCAA II Playoffs.

ALAMOSA, Colo. - The eighth-ranked Colorado School of Mines football team earned its first conference championship since 1958 with a 31-21 victory over Adams State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon at Rex Field.

The Orediggers will now await word on their position for the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The selections will be announced on Sunday morning at 11:00 am (MST) on ESPNews.

In today's game, senior quarterback and Harlon Hill Candidate Chad Friehauf (Brush, Colo./Brush) capped one of the best regular seasons in Division II history as he went 30-of-40 for 282 yards and a touchdown and also ran 12 times for 53 yards and two touchdowns. His 335 yards of total offense for the game put him at 4,319 for the season, a Division II record. The old record was 4,301 yards set by Wilkie Perez of Glenville State (WV) in 1997.

Friehauf will look to add to that total in the Division II playoffs.

CSM took a 24-0 lead at the 6:51 mark of the second quarter and hung on for the win. Freshman kicker Aaron Abel (Cheyenne, Wyo./East) connected on a career-long 35-yard field goal midway through the first quarter to give Mines an early 3-0 lead.

Friehauf recorded an 8-yard scoring run with 2:05 to play in the first quarter to make it 10-0. Senior running back Craig Van Horn (Colorado Springs, Colo./Doherty) found paydirt from 2-yards out at the 10:22 mark of the second quarter and Friehauf plunged into the endzone from 1-yard out less than four minutes later to make it 24-0.

However, the Grizzlies (7-4, 6-2 RMAC) got on the board with 59 seconds to play in the first half when Scott Coxon found Isa Abdul-Aziz from 6-yards out.

It took almost 14 minutes for either team to find the endzone in the third quarter as ASC cut its deficit to 24-14 with 1:28 to play in the third stanza when Coxon hooked up with Gene Mejia from 4-yards out.

But, the Orediggers extended their lead back to 17 points (31-14) on the final play of the third quarter when Friehauf hit senior wide receiver Derek Lis (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain) for a 4-yard touchdown pass.

Coxon added his third scoring pass of the game two minutes into the final quarter when he found Abdul-Aziz for a 40-yard touchdown to cut the lead back to 10 points (31-21). But that was as close as the Grizzlies would get.

Van Horn ran the ball 18 times for 49 yards and a score and also caught eight passes for 57 yards. Senior wide receiver Jonny Chan (Aurora, Colo./Rangeview) led the squad with 83 receiving yards on four catches.

Sophomore linebacker Austin Wagner (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain) posted a team-best 12 tackles, while senior strong safety Daniel Leger (Arvada, Colo./Faith Christian) amassed nine stops, a sack one interception and defended three passes.

"Our offense came out early and gave us a big lead," Mines Head Coach Bob Stitt said. "And they always say that defense wins championships and that is exactly what our defense did for us in the second half."

Coxon finished 16-of-34 for 174 yards, three touchdowns and three picks and also ran 10 times for 19 yards. Abdul-Aziz caught five balls for 71 yards and two scores. Jason Semore led the Grizzly defense with a game-best 13 tackles, while Adam McGurk registered 12, including a sack.

-- OREDIGGERS --