October 9, 2026
GAME 7 AT A GLANCE
TROJAN DAY HOMECOMING FOOTBALL GAME / SENIOR DAY
Date: Saturday, October 10 vs. Dickinson State (N.D.)
Location: Brian Kern Family Stadium on Blankley Field |
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| Tailgate Opens: 11 a.m. |
| Seniors Recognition: 2:25 p.m. |
| Kick-off: 3 p.m |
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THIS WEEK
Dakota State (S.D.) (4-2 overall record, 0-1 Frontier East, No. 23 in NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Poll) closes out their 2-game home stand Saturday afternoon as they host Dickinson State (N.D.) (2-4 overall record, 1-0 FC East) in Trojan Day homecoming football game. Kick-off is set for 3 p.m. at Brian Kern Family Stadium on Blankley Field.
The Trojan football team will be honoring their 24 seniors prior to kick-off at 2:25 p.m. The tailgate area will be open at 11 a.m. after the DSU homecoming parade.
THE SERIES
Series Overall: Dickinson State leads all-time series 26-3.
Series Notes: Dakota State made history last season when they edged Dickinson State 27-25, marking their first ever win held in Dickinson, N.D. The Trojans snapped their 14-game losing skid in the series meeting with the Blue Hawks. Dakota State defeated Dickinson State twice at the former Trojan Field in 2007 and 2015. The Trojans are seeking for their first win over DiSU at Brian Kern Family Stadium.
Conferences: Dakota State and Dickinson State had been members in three different conferences since 2000. Both were formers members of the Dakota Athletic Conference and the North Star Athletic Association. This year will be the second year in the Frontier Conference for DSU, while DiSU was once a member of the Frontier Conference in early 2010's.
2026 STATS COMPARISON
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| 21.8 |
Scoring Offense |
35.0 |
| 140.0 |
Rushing Offense |
106.7 |
| 157.8 |
Passing Offense |
355.7 |
| 297.8 |
Total Offense |
462.3 |
| 26.8 |
Scoring Defense |
24.3 |
| 154.7 |
Rushing Defense |
129.0 |
| 238.5 |
Passing Defense |
226.3 |
| 393.2 |
Total Defense |
335.3 |
| 7 |
Interceptions |
7 |
| 33/36.2 |
Punts/Avg. |
24/37.8 |
| 8-63 |
Sacks-Yards Lost |
11-62 |
SATURDAY'S FRONTIER CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
The Frontier Conference football continues their divisional action Saturday with six games on slate.
Valley City State (N.D.) stays on the road at Mayville State (N.D.) in the Frontier East Division action, while MSU-Northern travels to No. 6 Montana Tech. No. 23 Dakota State (S.D.) hosts Dickinson State (N.D.), while Rocky Mountain (Mont.) will take a bye week before returning to action on Oct. 17 at Dickinson State.
Montana Western visits No. 13 Carroll (Mont.) in the West Division. Eastern Oregon plays their divisional opener at Arizona Christian, while Simpson (Calif.) travels to Southern Oregon. No. 1 ranked College of Idaho will take a bye week before returning to action at Montana Western on Oct. 17.
ABOUT DICKINSON STATE
Dickinson State (N.D.) enters Saturday's Frontier Conference East Division contest with a 2-4 overall record and a 1-0 mark in divisional play. The Blue Hawks are coming off a 28-6 Homecoming victory over Mayville State (N.D.), snapping a two-game losing streak and earning their first Frontier East victory of the season. Saturday's victory over Mayville State marked Stanton's 100th career victory as Dickinson State's head coach.
Dickinson State opened the season with consecutive road losses at Midland (Neb.) and Valley City State (N.D.) before earning its first victory with a 44-13 home win over MSU-Northern. The Blue Hawks then dropped back-to-back contests against No. 15 Carroll (Mont.) and Montana Western before rebounding with their 28-6 victory over Mayville State.
Dakota State snapped a 14-game losing streak against Dickinson State last season with a 27-25 road victory in Dickinson. The win marked the Trojans' first-ever victory at Dickinson State and improved DaSU to 3-26 all-time against the Blue Hawks.
Tray Hettick threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns, while
Melek Ford recorded 13 receptions for 174 yards and two scores in the victory.
TROJANS IN THE NAIA AND FC EAST RANKS
According to the NAIA-PrestoStats as of Friday, Dakota State's
Tray Hettick leads the NAIA and Frontier East Division with 2,040 passing yards. He is tied for first in the nation and East Division with 22 passing touchdowns with Brodey Johnson of Midland (Neb.).
Maddox Kihne also ranks sixth in the NAIA and leads FC East with 615 receiving yards for the Trojans. Dakota State is first in the NAIA in passing yards per game, averaging 355.7 yards per game. DSU also leads the nation with 2,134 total passing yards.
DSU's
Kaden Van Otterloo ranks seventh NAIA with 55 total tackles, averaging 9.2 tackles per game.
Tamareon 'Frosty' Foster ties second in the nation with four interceptions this season.
Malte Hamann ties for fourth most field goals made in Frontier East with three field goals for DSU. He also ties the East Division in field goal percentage (100 percent). He is second in the division with 34 points scored in kicking.
Sam Marcus ranks second in the FC East with 37.8 yards per punt this season for the Trojans.
Dakota State ranks second in the Frontier East Division with 35.0 points per game. The Trojans are also second in the division with 144 total first downs.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 22 Dakota State fell 33-21 to No. 6 Montana Tech Saturday afternoon at Brian Kern Family Stadium, dropping to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in Frontier Conference East Division play. The Trojans erased a 13-point deficit and briefly took the lead in the third quarter before the Orediggers scored the final 13 points of the contest.
Montana Tech jumped out to a 13-0 advantage before Dakota State responded with a 68-yard touchdown pass from
Tray Hettick to
Maddox Kihne with 3:14 remaining in the second quarter. The Orediggers answered with another touchdown to extend their lead to 20-7, but the Trojans struck again on the final play of the half. Hettick connected with
Grant VanDenHul on a 44-yard Hail Mary touchdown as time expired, cutting the deficit to 20-14 at halftime.
Dakota State took its first lead of the game in the third quarter after the defense forced a missed Montana Tech field goal. The Trojans responded with a nine-play, 80-yard drive, capped by Hettick's 3-yard touchdown pass to
Jevon Denis for a 21-20 advantage.
Tamareon 'Frosty' Foster later intercepted Montana Tech quarterback Jarrett Wilson to give DSU another possession, but the Orediggers regained the lead in the fourth quarter on Wilson's 42-yard touchdown pass to Levi Torgerson. Montana Tech added a late rushing touchdown to secure the 33-21 victory.
Hettick completed 21-of-34 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns, while Kihne led the receiving corps with six catches for 165 yards and a touchdown. Denis added four receptions for 42 yards and a score, while VanDenHul's lone reception resulted in the 44-yard touchdown before halftime. Dakota State was limited to 18 rushing yards and Hettick was intercepted four times and sacked four times. Foster highlighted the Trojan defense with 17 tackles and an interception.
2026 DAKOTA STATE FOOTBALL TEAM LEADERS
- Rushing: Trajan Davis - 46 rushes, 264 yards
- Passing: Tray Hettick - 124-of-206 (60.2 completion rate), 2,040 yards, 22 touchdowns
- Receiving: Maddox Kihne - 30 catches, 615 yards, 5 touchdowns
- Scoring: Melek Ford - 54 points - 9 touchdowns
- Punting: Sam Marcus - 24 punts, 908 yards - 37.8 yards per punt
- Field Goals: Malte Hamann - 3 field goals
- Kick-offs: Malte Hamann - 29 kickoffs, 1,515 yards - 52.2 yards per kickoff
- Returns: Jovi Wolf - 17 returns, 221 yards
- Tackles: Kaden Van Otterloo - 55 tackles (24 solos, 31 assists)
- Tackles-for-loss: Josiah Perez - 6.0 tackles-for-loss of 17 yards
- Sacks: Elliott Devries - 2.5 sacks, 20.0 yards loss
- Interceptions: Tamareon 'Frosty' Foster - 4 interceptions, 42 yards return, 1 pick six (return for touchdown), 8 pass break-ups
