October 3, 2025
Game 5: DAKOTA STATE (S.D.) (3-1, 0-0 FC EAST) at (5) MONTANA TECH (5-0, 0-0 FC EAST)
OCT. 4 I ALUMNI COLISEUM I BUTTE, MONT. I KICKOFF: 2 PM (CENTRAL TIME)/1 PM (MOUNTAIN TIME)
FRONTIER CONFERENCE EAST DIVISION OPENER
THE SERIES
Series Overall: First all-time series meeting
Series Notes: Saturday's game will be the first all-time series meeting between Dakota State (S.D.) and Montana Tech. Both teams are in the Frontier Conference East Division. The Orediggers are the Frontier Conference East Division preseason coaches' favorite to win the title.
Frontier Division Opener: Saturday marks the divisional opener (countable conference contests) for all the Frontier football conference. The East Division Saturday's schedule includes (RV) Dickinson State (N.D.) at Mayville State (N.D.) and Rocky Mountain (Mont.) at Valley City State (N.D.). MSU-Northern will be on a bye week.
2025 STATS COMPARISON
|
|
|
|
| 26.5 |
Scoring Offense |
33.2 |
| 127.5 |
Rushing Offense |
185.0 |
| 241.5 |
Passing Offense |
190.4 |
| 369.0 |
Total Offense |
375.4 |
| 15.0 |
Scoring Defense |
21.4 |
| 82.0 |
Rushing Defense |
80.0 |
| 138.3 |
Passing Defense |
280.6 |
| 220.3 |
Total Defense |
360.6 |
| 4 |
Interceptions |
6 |
| 21/38.6 |
Punts/Avg. |
21/36.5 |
| 7-56 |
Sacks-Yards Lost |
12-71 |
LAST GAME
Dakota State (S.D.) closed out their non-conference schedule by going 2-0 record in the Frontier Conference cross-over. The Trojans edged (RV) Southern Oregon 11-10 in a thrilling fashion homecoming victory with a late field goal by
Adrian Villanueva with 12 seconds remaining.
DSU grabbed the first lead of the game in the first quarter as
Tray Hettick connected to
Preston Iverson for a 38-yard touchdown. The Raiders answered with 10 points in the second quarter to overtake a 10-6 halftime lead.
The Trojans held Southern Oregon scoreless in the second half, the second straight game with DSU's defense did not allow any points in the final thirty minutes of the game. DSU recorded a safety in the third and later secured the victory with a 35-yard field goal by Villanueva.
Southern Oregon outgained Dakota State 285-245 in total offensive yards.
ABOUT MONTANA TECH
Montana Tech, located in Butte, Mont., is one of the original members of the Frontier Conference. Saturday's game will be their sixth straight game that they will play to open the 2025 season.
The Orediggers, who were ranked in the NAIA's Top 10 throughout the season, rose to No. 5 after holding off No. 25 ranked College of Idaho 27-24 in the final non-conference contest of the season.
Montana Tech kicked off their 2025 season with a 38-27 home victory over Frontier Conference's defending champion then No. 5 ranked Montana Western 38-27 on Aug. 28. MT followed up with a 30-19 road victory at No. 25 ranked Carroll (Mont.) on Sept. 6, a 34-23 home victory over Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on Sept. 13, and a 37-14 road victory at Southern Oregon on Sept. 20.
Montana Tech received an at-large bid and an opening round bye in last year's NAIA Football Championship Series (FCS), falling to No. 10 ranked Northwestern (Iowa) 32-29 in the final seconds at home in the second round.
Kyle Samson became Montana Tech's head football coach on January 21, 2020, after serving as the program's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks the season prior. In his third season of coaching at MT, he led the Orediggers back to the NAIA FCS playoffs for the first time since 2016.
FRONTIER CONFERENCE CROSSOVER RECAP
Last Saturday was the last Frontier Conference Crossover, as well as final non-conference contests except for Arizona Christian). This weekend's games are the start of the divisional contests (East and West), which are counted toward their conference record. The winner in each division will receive the league's automatic bid to the NAIA Football Championship Series in late November.
After Frontier Conference East Division owned a 4-3 record in the first cross-over contests on Sept. 20, the East Division also went 4-3 record against the West Division. The FC East Division teams finished with an 8-6 record over the West Division teams.
The Frontier East Division winners included Montana Tech holding with a 27-24 victory over College of Idaho in the battle of NAIA's Top 25 nationally ranked teams. MSU-Northern also recorded their first win of the season, defeating Eastern Oregon 23-7. Dakota State edged Southern Oregon 11-10, while Valley City State (N.D.) held off Simpson (Calif.) 27-21.
Montana Western, preseason favorite to win the West Division, led the division with a 41-21 victory over Dickinson State (N.D.) in last year's rematch in the FCS Football playoffs' second round. Arizona Christian held off Mayville State (N.D.) 21-20, despite both teams being scoreless in the second half. Carroll (Mont.) wrapped up with a 27-13 home victory over Rocky Mountain (Mont.).
SHEEHAN HONORED BY FRONTIER CONFERENCE
Senior punter
Xander Sheehan became the first Dakota State (S.D.) to be honored as the Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Special Teams Player-of-the-Week after the Trojans' 11-10 thrilling homecoming victory over (RV) Southern Oregon at Brian Kern Family Stadium on Sept. 27.
Sheehan, a 5-foot-11 and 220 lbs. from Hayti, S.D., registered eight punts for a total of 333 yards in the game for Dakota State. The game highlighted as
Adrian Villanueva drilled a game-winning 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining in the game.
Sheehan averaged 41.6 yards per punt for the Trojans. He hit his career long punt of 59 yards near the end of the third quarter. Three of his punts landed inside the opponents' 20-yard line, two of his punts were 50-plus yards long, and one punt recorded as a touchback.
He tied for second best punting yards in the Frontier Conference East Division, averaging 38.6 yards per punt for the Trojans this season.
FRONTIER CONFERENCE EAST DIVISION PREVIEW
There are a total of seven teams in the Frontier Conference East Division, where each team will play a total of six countable conference games (each team will also have a bye week during the divisional schedule). The winner of the division will earn one of the two league's automatic bid to the NAIA Football Championships Series (FCS) playoffs.
Dakota State opens their East Division schedule against the top two preseason favorite picks, the preseason favorite to win the division, Montana Tech, Saturday and the second favorite to win the East Division, Dickinson State, on Oct. 11 in Dickinson, N.D.
The Trojans return home for their final three of the four contests at Brian Kern Family Stadium. DSU hosts Valley City State (N.D.) in the Rushin' for a Cure football game on Oct. 18 and take a bye on Oct. 25. After their road contest Mayville State (N.D.) on Nov. 1, DSU hosts Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on Nov. 8 and MSU-Northern on Nov. 15 to close their 2025 regular season schedule.
TROJANS IN THE FC EAST CONFERENCE RANKS
According to the NAIA-PrestoStats website as of Friday, Dakota State (S.D.) ranks second in the Frontier Conference East Division in scoring offense with 26.5 points.
DSU ranks second the FC East Division in offensive yards per game with an average of 369.0 offensive yards, Dakota State also leads the FC East Division in scoring defense with 15.0 points per game allowed, as well as total yards allowed with 220.3 yards per game.
Tray Hettick is tied for third in the division with five passing touchdowns for DSU.
Preston Iverson ranks second in rushing yards per game with 63.5 yards.
Taron Serr is fourth in the Frontier Conference East with 8.3 tackles per game.
2025 DAKOTA STATE FOOTBALL TEAM LEADERS
- Rushing: Preston Iverson - 51 rushes, 260 yards, 2 touchdowns
- Passing: Tray Hettick - 42-of-63, 600 yards, 5 touchdowns
- Receiving: Victor Boggs, Jr. - 13 catches, 269 yards, 1 touchdown
- Scoring: Raesean Eaton, Preston Iverson - 18 points, 3 touchdowns
- Punting: Xander Sheehan - 19 punts, 745 yards, 39.2 yards per punt
- Field Goals: Adrian Villanueva - 3 field goals
- Kick-offs: Adrian Villanueva - 18 kick-offs, 906 yards (50.3 average)
- Returns: Jovi Wolf - 10 returns, 80 yards
- Tackles: Taron Serr - 32 tackles (13 solos, 19 assists)
- Tackles-for-loss: Brooks Jansen, Jordan Cooper - 3 tackles-for-loss, 18.0 yards loss
- Sacks: Jordan Cooper - 1.5 sacks, 12.0 yards loss
- Interceptions: Cole Paulson - 1 interception, 60 yards return, 1 touchdown
