September 29, 2025

MADISON, S.D. – Xander Sheehan of Dakota State (S.D.) was selected as the Special Teams Player-of-the-Week award, the fifth edition of the Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Football Players-of-the-Week awards were announced Monday by the conference office.  He became the first Trojan football athlete to earn the weekly honor from the Frontier football conference.

Sheehan, a 5-foot-11 and 220 lbs. kicker/punter, registered eight punts for a total of 333 yards during DSU's 11-10 defensive battle victory over (RV) Southern Oregon on Sept. 27.  The game highlighted as Adrian Villanueva drilled the game-winning 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds left for the Trojans.

Sheehan averaged 41.6 yards per punt for Dakota State.  He recorded a career long punt of 59 yards near the of the third quarter.  Three of his punts landed inside the opponent's 20-yard line, two of his punts were 50-plus yards long, and one punt recorded as a touchback. 

Sheehan is tied for second best punting yards in the Frontier Conference East Division, averaging 38.6 yards per punt for Dakota State. 

Xander is a native of Hayti, S.D.  He is a senior physical education major at Dakota State University.

Dakota State (3-1 overall record, 0-0 FC East) begins their divisional schedule (countable conference games) Saturday afternoon.  The Trojans travel to Alumni Coliseum in Butte, Mont., to take on the conference's divisional preseason favorite No. 6 ranked Montana Tech.  Kick-off is set for 2 p.m. (Central Time)/1 p.m. (Mountain Time).