Football 9/26/2025 8:00:00 AM Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director

Trojans to host (RV) Southern Oregon in homecoming/seniors day game Saturday

Dakota State (S.D.) plays second Frontier Conference cross-over game at Brian Kern Family Stadium

September 26, 2025

Game 4: (RV) SOUTHERN OREGON (1-2, 0-0 FC WEST) at DAKOTA STATE (S.D.) (2-1, 0-0 FC EAST)
SEPT. 27 I BRIAN KERN FAMILY STADIUM ON BLANKLEY FIELD I MADISON, S.D. I KICKOFF: 2 PM (CENTRAL TIME)
TROJAN DAY HOMECOMING GAME / SENIORS DAY (CEREMONY AT 1:25 PM)

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 Southern Oregon. SOU joined the Frontier Conference as an associate member in football since 2012. DSU joined the Frontier Conference as a full membership in 2025-26.
Frontier Cross-over: Saturday's game will be the final non-conference game before the Frontier Conference begins their divisional contests on Oct. 4, which will count as conference games. Dakota State earned a 44-27 road victory at Arizona Christian in their first FC cross over on Sept. 20, while SOU fell to nationally ranked Montana Tech 37-14 at home.

2025 STATS COMPARISON


26.7	Scoring Offense	31.7
110.0	Rushing Offense	175.7
307.7	Passing Offense	234.7
417.7	Total Offense	410.4
21.3	Scoring Defense	16.7
169.3	Rushing Defense	104.7
205.3	Passing Defense	123.0
374.6	Total Defense	227.7
4	Interceptions	4
11/33.2	Punts/Avg.	23/36.6
2-17	Sacks-Yards Lost	5-38

LAST GAME
Dakota State (S.D.) traveled to Arizona Christian for the first Frontier Conference cross-over contest. The Trojans kicked off the first play with an 80-yard reception by Maddox Kihne from Tray Hettick. The game was knotted 13-13 after the first quarter and fell behind 27-20 at halftime.

DSU shut down the Firestorm in the final thirty minutes of the game, outscoring ACU 24-0 to secure a 44-27 road victory. It was both teams' first all-time meeting.

Dakota State racked up a season high 550 offensive yards compared to Arizona Christian 300 yards. Hettick threw 338 yards with four touchdowns, while Preston Iverson added 165 rushing yards with two touchdowns.

Victor Boggs, Jr. had five catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. Tamareon 'Frosty' Foster, Michael Foster, and Kaden Eng each had an interception. Taron Serr tallied eight tackles.

ABOUT SOUTHERN OREGON
Southern Oregon, located in Ashland, Ore., is an associate member of the Frontier Conference in the sport of football since 2012. The Raiders lost two straight games after opening their 2025 season with a 59-0 home shutout victory over Simpson (Calif.) in the non-conference game.

SOU followed up with a 27-7 road setback to NCAA Division II Western Oregon on Sept. 6 and No. 7 ranked Montana Tech 37-14 in Ashland on Sept. 20 in the first Frontier Conference cross-over contest.

The Raiders were 8-3 overall record and 5-3 record in the Frontier Conference last season. SOU missed the postseason, despite being ranked in the NAIA's Top 25 national poll at No. 22 in the final national poll (No. 24 in the postseason national poll).

Southern Oregon was the NAIA national champion in 2014 and returned to the national championship game in 2015 where they fell to Marian (Ind.). The Raiders were undefeated in the Frontier Conference with a 10-0 record in 2017.

Berk Brown is in his third season as the Southern Oregon head coach after beginning his tenure with back-to-back winning seasons. He was voted for the AFCA-NAIA Region 5 co-Coach of the Year in 2024.

FRONTIER CONFERENCE CROSSOVER #1 RECAP
Six of the seven Frontier Conference cross-over games were won by the road teams on Sept. 20. College of Idaho was the lone team that earned a home victory, defeating MSU-Northern 38-16.

The Frontier East Division team owns a 4-3 record in the cross-over contests against the Frontier Conference West Division. The FC Division East teams earned victories from Valley City State (N.D.) with a 3-0 victory at Eastern Oregon, Montana Tech with a 37-14 victory at Southern Oregon in the NAIA's Top 25 battle, Dakota State (S.D.) with the 44-27 victory at Arizona Christian, and Mayville State (N.D.) with a come-from-behind 21-17 victory at Simpson (Calif.).

FC's West team Montana Western, ranked No. 9 in the current national poll, defeated Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 37-14. The other west division teams' victories included No. 25 Carroll (Mont.) with a 35-7 road victory at No. 11 ranked Dickinson State (N.D.) in another NAIA's Top 25 battle.

Saturday's contests will mark the final non-conference contests for all 14 Frontier Conference teams before heading to division games (counted as a conference game). The schedule includes #25 College of Idaho at #6 Montana Tech, Eastern Oregon at MSU-Northern, #20 Dickinson State at #9 Montana Western, (RV) Southern Oregon at Dakota State, Arizona Christian at Mayville State, Simpson at Valley City State, and Rocky Mountain at #18 Carroll.

The Frontier Conference division games are set for Oct. 4, where the Trojans open their conference play on the road for two straight weekends, at Montana Tech (Oct. 4) and at Dickinson State (Oct. 11).

SENIORS DAY TO BE HONORED SATURDAY
The Dakota State University Trojan football team will be honoring their seniors during their annual Trojan Day homecoming football game. The seniors' ceremony is scheduled to start at 1:25 p.m. The kick-off is slated for 2 p.m. versus (RV) Southern Oregon Saturday at Brian Kern Family Stadium on Blankley Field.

There are nearly 25 seniors this season, the largest senior group during head coach Josh Anderson's era at Dakota State University.

The seniors included Rhet Bertram, Kacey Cauley, Gabriel Chambliss, Joseph Cole, Nathan Cook, Caleb Dwyer, Kaden Eng, Michael Foster, Seth Gawerecki, Jack Hemmen, Brooks Jansen, Trevon Johnson, Tyler Kjetland, Cooper Maras, Deveon Moses, Cole Paulson, Sam Sather, Gus Sanford, Taron Serr, Joshua Shaffer, Xander Sheehan, Zane Tucker, Lane VanderWal, and student manager Sadie Lindeman.

PAULSON IS CAMPBELL TROPHY SEMIFINALIST
Senior Cole Paulson is one of the seven NAIA recipients to be named on the 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy semifinalists list, announced by the National Football Foundation & College of Hall of Fame. A total of 178 semifinalists from all college football divisions (FBS, FCS, NCAA Division II, III, NAIA) were listed.

Paulson, a 5-foot-9 205 lbs. linebacker for the Trojans, is a scholar-athlete recipient for the conference and the NAIA. He graduated from Pipestone Area in Pipestone, Minn. He majors in business education at Dakota State University.

Earlier this season, Paulson caught a 'Pick Six' interception return for touchdown of 60 yards in Trojans' 37-7 home opener over Nebraska Wesleyan. He tallied a season-high seven tackles in DSU's 44-27 road victory at Arizona Chrisian.

The NFF will announce 12-16 finalists on Oct. 22.

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 31.7 points. The Trojans scored more than 37 points in the previous two games, including a game-high 44 points at Arizona Christian on Sept. 20.

DSU leads the FC East Division in offensive yards per game with an average of 410.3 offensive yards, highlighted by a season-high 550 yards at ACU. Dakota State also leads the FC East Division in scoring defense with 16.7 points per game allowed.

Tray Hettick is fourth in the division with four passing touchdowns for DSU. Preston Iverson ranks second in rushing yards per game with 78.7 yards, followed by Raesean Eaton with 56.3 rushing yards per game. Taron Serr is seventh in the Frontier Conference East with 23 total tackles.

2025 DAKOTA STATE FOOTBALL TEAM LEADERS