The South Dakota Mines Hardrockers football program represents the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T) in college football. In 2010, South Dakota Mines announced that it would end the school's affiliation with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to join the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division II beginning with the 2011 season as a probationary member and becoming a full member in 2013.[2]

South Dakota Mines Hardrockers football
First season1895 (1895)
Athletic directorJoel Lueken
Head coachCharlie Flohr
5th season, 26–22 (.542)
StadiumO'Harra Stadium
(capacity: 4,000)
Field surfaceArtificial
LocationRapid City, South Dakota
ConferenceRMAC
Past conferences
GNAC (2013–2015)
NCAA DII Ind.(2011–2012)
DAC (NAIA) (2000–2010)
SDIC (NAIA) (1917–1999)
All-time record378–485–35 (.440)
Conference titles14
ColorsNavy blue and Vegas gold[1]
   
Fight songRamblin' Wreck from Rapid Tech
MascotGrubby the Miner
Marching bandHardrocker Pep Band
Websitewww.gorockers.com

The Hardrockers also went by the "Longhairs"[3] early in their history. They have played football since 1895 with hiatuses taken in 1896–1899, 1907, 1915, and 1942–1945.

West River Rivalry-Black Hills Brawl

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SDSM&T's first ever game was an 18–0 loss to Black Hills College (now Black Hills State University) on Nov. 28, 1895. This would prove to be a long-standing rivalry.[4]

SDSM&T's main athletic rival is Black Hills State University. The rivalry is generated from proximity, with BHSU located less than 50 miles to the west in Spearfish, South Dakota. Educational differences between the schools also help fuel the rivalry, with BHSU being mainly a liberal arts college and SDSM&T an engineering/STEM-only research university. The football rivalry is the fourth most-frequently played series in the US, behind the Harvard–Yale football rivalry (131), Princeton–Yale (138), and The Rivalry (Lafayette–Lehigh) (151 games). It is also the oldest football series west of the Mississippi River and the most played between current NCAA Div. II teams. Generally, the last game of each season is reserved for the two schools to play, however the two schools may play twice in the same season (early in their history have played three times in a season) or earlier in the year. The teams battle for the Homestake Trophy, named for a mine in the Black Hills area and adorned with a prospector's pan. The rivalry is called the Black Hills Brawl, due to the location of the schools and ferocity in which the teams play each other,[4] or the West River Rivalry, named for the area of South Dakota that both school's inhabit.

Since their first meeting in football 1895, the schools have played total of 131 times and to the point of having at least one yearly game since 1919 (excluding the lack of teams from 1942 to 1945 due to World War II).[4] The only years they have not played one game against each other but have had teams are 1902, 1904, 1910, 1911, and 1918. The Hardrockers currently lead the series 65–60–11[5]

Head coaching history

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There have been 37 recorded coaches in the school's history.[6][7]

Coach Years Seasons Games Wins Losses Ties Percentage
Rudolph F. Flinterman 1895 1 1 0 1 0 0
E. M. Stevens 1900–1902 3 7 5 2 0 .714
Green 1903 1 1 1 0 0 1.000
Carl Hendrickson 1904-1905 2 4 4 0 0 1.000
Thomas R. Nelson 1906 1 3 2 0 1 .666
George S. Keller 1908–1909 2 11 10 1 0 .909
Joseph Power 1910 1 5 2 2 1 .400
Howard Fulweiler 1911 1 6 1 3 2 .167
Guy C. Redfield 1912 1 6 2 4 0 .333
J. H. Winterringer 1913 1 7 5 2 0 .714
Ernest Allmendinger 1914 1 5 4 1 0 .800
John F. Dulebohn 1916 1 5 2 3 0 .400
Fred Gushurst 1917, 1919–1920 3 15 10 5 0 .666
Kenneth M. Harkness 1918 1 1 1 0 0 1.000
John Redmon 1921 1 7 2 4 1 .286
B. R. Schroeder 1922–1923 2 14 9 4 1 .643
Ollie C. Thomas 1924–1928 5 39 23 15 1 .560
Ray D. Hahn 1929–1934 6 42 15 27 0 .357
Lem Herting 1935–1938 4 29 14 14 1 .483
Art Sullivan 1939–1940 2 15 5 9 1 .333
Dave Strong 1941 1 7 4 2 1 .571
Dan Lennon 1946 1 8 2 6 0 .250
Marvin Lewellyn 1947–1951 5 39 19 16 4 .487
Clare Ekeland 1952–1958 7 56 15 32 9 .268
Homer Englund 1959–1960, 1962 3 23 12 11 0 .522
Jerry Welfl 1961 1 8 3 5 0 .375
Darold King 1963–1970 8 66 25 36 5 .379
Gary L. Boner 1971–1989 19 172 92 73 7 .535
Erv Mondt 1990–1994 5 45 11 34 0 .244
Rick Fiala 1995–1997 3 30 7 23 0 .233
Ron Richards 1998–1999 2 20 2 18 0 .100
Darren Soucy 2000–2004 5 50 10 40 0 .200
Dan Kratzer 2005–2011 7 71 23 48 0 .323
Stacy Collins 2012–2015 4 43 16 27 0 .372
Zach Tinker 2016–2019 3 33 13 20 0 .394
Charlie Flohr 2020–Present 4 37 20 17 0 .540

References

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  1. ^ South Dakota Mines Branding Guidelines. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  2. ^ "'Rockers enter final year to becoming NCAA member". Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  3. ^ [1] Archived March 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b c [2] Archived August 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Football".
  6. ^ "Hardrocker Athletics". Gorockers.com. April 9, 2015. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  7. ^ "29 Sep 1905, 2 - The Black Hills Weekly Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
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