ST. GEORGE, Utah – Behind season-highs in passing by junior quarterback Ben Longshore (Santa Clarita, CA/Canyon), receiving yards by junior receiver Nate Stephens (Redding, CA/Shasta), and receiving touchdowns by senior Conor Sklarsky (Norco, CA/Notre Dame), Dixie State football racked up 492 yards of offense but a missed PAT proved to be the difference in a 41-40 overtime loss to South Dakota Mines on Saturday night at Hansen Stadium.
 
Longshore threw for 427 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. Stephens hauled in a career-best 13 catches for 200 yards and a score. It was the first 200-yard performance by a Dixie State receiver since Kyser Christensen went for 215 yards against Adams State. Sklarsky made five grabs, three for touchdowns, for 96 yards.
 
The game was back-and-forth throughout, seeing both teams posting long scoring strings.
 
With the score tied at 34-34 after regulation, the Hardrockers (2-7, 1-4) scored on the first play of overtime on a trick play. Then, after SDM scored on the first possession, the Red Storm (1-8, 0-4) answered with a TD run from Myles Burton (Berkeley, CA/Rodriguez). The point-after try by Alex Giordani (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) sailed wide right to end the game in favor of the Hardrockers.
 
Unluckily, the missed PAT overshadowed the rest of Giordani's night that featured DSU's first score on a 24-yard early in the first quarter. The place kicker also booted a 40-yard extra point in the third quarter and a 25-yard FG to give Dixie State a 34-27 lead late in the game.
 
After DSU held the early 3-0 lead, South Dakota Mines went to a scoring streak of 20 consecutive points. The Storm ended the when Longshore hit Sklarsky for his first touchdown from five yards out.
 
The Hardrockers would ride three running scores from Kevin Thompson in the first half for a 27-10 lead at the break.
 
Dixie State outscored SDM 21-0 in the third quarter to regain the lead, 31-27. The Storm quickly drove 62 yards in six plays culminating in a 44-yard pass to Stephens. The teams traded punts for three possessions before DSU got into the end zone again. On the ninth play, a third down near midfield, Longshore fired a pass toward Sklarsky. The ball was tipped into the air, but luckily for Dixie State, fell into the waiting arms of Sklarsky who ran 48 yards for a score.
 
Mines had two drives stall out after fourth down incompletions on fourth down. Dixie State worked through their longest drive to try and take time off the clock while padding a 31-27 advantage. The 16-play drive ended with Giordani hitting from 25.
 
Mines had enough time to run a drive with short passes and player getting out of bounds. They would score with 50 seconds left in regulation and attempted a two-point conversion that was nullified by a penalty. A longer PAT split the uprights and send the game to overtime.
 
South Dakota Mines outgained Dixie State, 505-494, and balanced their touchdowns (three rush, three pass).
 
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Trevor Oakley (Santa Ana, CA/Foothill High School ) led all players with 14 tackles. Junior linebacker Robert Metz (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro) had his third straight game with 10+ tackles while senior defensive back Alshondre Smith (Stone Mountain, GA/Wesson HS) had a career-high 9 stops.
 
Dixie State closes out their home schedule next Saturday hosting Central Washington on Senior Night at 6:05 p.m.