Butte, MT - An exciting finish capped a high octane offensive performance on Saturday as the Orediggers defeated the Southern Oregon Raiders 50-47 in double overtime. Pat Hansen, a redshirt freshman, racked up 223 total yards and five touchdowns on Saturday, including the winning score in the second overtime.

After holding the Raiders to a field goal in the second overtime, the Orediggers were down 47-44. On the first play of the second overtime, Hansen took the pitch from Brian Schwartzkoph for a 25 yard score and the win. The Diggers were right behind Hansen after he scored to celebrate the exciting finish to the first game of the season.

Schwarzkoph had an impressive day as well marking his first start at quarterback. While completing 34 of his 51 attempts for 305 yards, Schwarzkoph threw two touchdowns and two interceptions on the day. Hansen's second touchdown of the day was a pass from Schwarzkoph.  

One the defensive side, junior defensive back Jordan Heringer led the team with 10 tackles. Freshman Jake Helbling had his first collegiate interception in the third quarter and returned it 30 yards down to the Raider's five yard line.

Even though the defense gave up 565 total yards, they stopped the Raiders on big plays that kept the momentum in Tech's favor. The Diggers forced two fumbles, including one on the goal line to stop the Raiders from scoring in the second half. While the Diggers are young and running a new defense with first year coach Chuck Morrell, they showed they can hunker down when it counts.

The game showed promise of an exciting season of Digger football ahead. Montana Tech is home next weekend against Eastern Oregon University in their first conference game of the year.