GOLDEN, Colo. – The Central Washington football (9-4) playoff run came to an end Saturday afternoon falling to the number one team in the nation, the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers (13-0) by a 31-14 score. 
 
QUOTABLE
 
"We tip our hat to Colorado School of Mines," CWU Head Football Coach Chris Fisk said. "It's a really good program with tough kids and they coach really well, they have a great culture, and we wish them the best of luck moving forward. I'm proud of our guys for the season they put together. I thought that we battled and fought all the way through the third quarter before things started to get out of hand. I couldn't be more proud of this group and the way they've handled adversity. The resiliency on the season has been amazing, I'm just really blessed to be able to coach all the guys, but these players allowed us to coach them. I couldn't have asked for better guys."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• Mines started out the game driving down the field before Brett McCalla intercepted the Mines quarterback to give the 'Cats the ball for the first time at the CWU 39-yard line with 11:55 left in the first quarter. 
• Unfortunately, the Wildcats couldn't take advantage of the turnover and went three and out on the first possession. 
• The Orediggers moved their way down the field on their next possession and was the first to put points on the board, 7-0 with 6:27 left in the first quarter. 
• Kennedy McGill found DeMonte Horton for a 19-yard reception that helped set up Josh Jones for the 50-yard field goal attempt that went wide right keeping the score 7-0 in favor of Mines. 
• The Wildcats defense came up with another big play two plays in on the Mines next drive, after Mines completed a long 51-yard pass, the receiver fumbled it, and Tanner Volk recovered it giving the ball back to CWU with 3:11 left in the first quarter.
• The Wildcats were unfortunately not able to take advantage of the turnover, going three and out giving the ball back to Mines. 
• Mines ended the first quarter after an Isaac Clark tackle for loss making it fourth and 11 for the Orediggers ending the first quarter with Mines leading 7-0.
• Johnny Navarro opened the second quarter with a bang blocking the Mines punt with Jalen Webber recovering the ball at the Mines 10-yard line. 
• On the second play McGill found Darius Morrison in the back of the endzone to put the Wildcats on the board with Josh Jones converting the point after touchdown to tie the game at seven each with 13:50 left in the second quarter. 
• The Orediggers used a long methodical drive to retake the lead 14-7 with 7:01 left in the first half. 
• CWU countered with their own long methodical drive highlighted by a 15-yard fourth down reception from Kaiden Hammond and a 15-yard reception from Morrison to set up a 13-yard touchdown reception once again to Morrison, with Jones converting the PAT to tie the game at 14 with 21 seconds left in the first half. 
• The first half ended with the Mines quarterback being sacked by Clark for a three-yard loss. 
• The Wildcats opened the second half with a three and out. 
• Mines came out of halftime with a vengeance to retake the lead 21-14 with 10:13 left in the third quarter. 
• The Wildcats were driving looking to tie the game before a fumble that was recovered by Mines set them up for a 27-yard field goal to take a double-digit lead, 24-14. 
• CWU was driving once again, but weren't able to complete the fourth down reception giving the ball back to Mines with 41 seconds left in the third quarter at the Mines 45-yard line. 
• Mines ended the third quarter with a 12-yard reception to get into CWU territory and the 24-14 lead. 
• The Orediggers continued their drive into the fourth quarter to increase their lead with a touchdown, making it 31-14 in favor or Mines with 13:01 left in the game. 
• A couple penalties on the Wildcats and an incomplete pass forced the Wildcats to punt setting Mines up at their 17-yard line.
• Mines continued their momentum driving down the field before back-to-back sacks by Clark and Navarro forced the Orediggers into a field goal situation from 37-yards that went wide keeping the game at 31-14. 
• The Wildcats saw a big 17-yard reception by Darrien Gaines to set CWU up in the Mines side of the field before a strip sack fumble was recovered by Mines. 
• The Wildcat defense stood pat forcing Mines into a three and out with 4:33 left in the game. 
• The Mines defense stiffened up and earned an interception returning the ball to the Wildcat two-yard line but a penalty on the Orediggers pushed them back to the 30-yard line. 
• Mines wound down the clock and rushed in the ball for a touchdown to increase their lead to 38-14 with 46 seconds left in the game.
• Cameron Daniels rushed for a one yard loss to end the game and the Wildcats playoff run with a 38-14 setback in the Super Region 4 final. 

 
STATS FROM THE GAME
 

• McGill finished the game completing 16 of his 33 passes for 207 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception while also leading the Wildcats in rushing with 12 yards. 
• Daniels finished the game with two rushing yards. 
• Morrison had quite the game, making seven receptions for 82 yards and two touchdowns. 
• Horton and Gaines each had 54 and 45 receiving yards, respectively. 
• Brett Accimus and Josh Flowers were the leaders for the Wildcat defense with 12 and 11 tackles respectively, with Accimus earning a 0.5 tackle for loss and Flowers forcing a fumble. 
• Clark and Volk each had nine tackles with Clark earning three tackles for loss including two sacks as well as a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry while Volk recovered a fumble. 
• Chase Loidhamer finished with seven tackles including two tackles for loss and one sack. 
• Brett McCalla finished with six tackles including a tackle for loss and an interception while Navarro finished with two tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and one blocked kick. 
• Dan Stewart finished the game with four punts for 220 yards and an average of 55 yards per punt with two landing in the Mines 20-yard line. 
• Jones converted both his PAT attempts but was unsuccessful on his field goal attempt, while also having three kickoffs for 188 yards. 

 
The Wildcats finish the season with a 9-4 record including a 7-1 Lone Star Conference record and a second-place finish in the LSC. The Wildcats earned their first playoff win and made their first regional final since the 2009 season and finished the season with a 3-2 record against NCAA Division II ranked opponents. They'll turn their attention to next season with some key pieces returning.