September 25, 2026
GAME 5 AT A GLANCE
FRONTIER CONFERENCE CROSSOVER GAME
Date: Saturday, September 25 at Southern Oregon
Location: SOU Raider Stadium / Ashland, Ore. |
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| Start Time: 3 p.m. (Central Time)/1 p.m. (Pacific Time) |
THIS WEEK
Dakota State (S.D.) (3-1 overall record, No. 21 in NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Coaches Regular-Season Poll) plays their final non-conference contest of the season Saturday afternoon. The Trojans head west to Oregon for another Frontier Conference crossover, visiting Southern Oregon (1-2 overall record) of the West Division. Kick-off from the SOU Raider Stadium is set for 3 p.m. (Central Time)/1 p.m. (Pacific Time).
THIS SERIES
Series Overall: Dakota State leads series 1-0
Series Notes: Both teams met for the first all-time meeting last season at Brian Kern Family Stadium on Blankley Field during DSU homecoming. The Trojans came up with a defensive battle victory over the Raiders by an ironic score of 11-10. SOU led 10-6 at halftime before DSU scored the final five points in the final thirty minutes of the game.
Frontier Conference Crossover: Saturday will be the final non-conference game before all 14 Frontier Conference football members head to divisional (counted as conference game) on Oct. 3. Dakota State will open their divisional play with back-to-back home games in Madison, S.D.
2026 STATS COMPARISON
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| 27.7 |
Scoring Offense |
40.5 |
| 117.7 |
Rushing Offense |
139.3 |
| 295.7 |
Passing Offense |
381.0 |
| 413.3 |
Total Offense |
520.3 |
| 52.7 |
Scoring Defense |
22.0 |
| 312.0 |
Rushing Defense |
122.5 |
| 271.0 |
Passing Defense |
185.3 |
| 583.0 |
Total Defense |
307.8 |
| 0 |
Interceptions |
3 |
| 11/31.4 |
Punts/Avg. |
14/37.5 |
| 0-0 |
Sacks-Yards Lost |
9-55 |
SATURDAY'S FRONTIER CROSSOVER SCHEDULE
Saturday will mark the final non-conference contest for all 14 Frontier Conference schools as they prepare for their six-game divisional action on Oct. 3. The schools are playing their second cross-over game after it began last Saturday, Sept. 19.
Saturday's game highlight the battle of NAIA's Top 5 teams with No. 3 ranked College of Idaho hosting No. 2 ranked Montana Tech.
Other Saturday's contests include (RV) Montana Western at Dickinson State (N.D.), No. 21 Dakota State (S.D.) at Southern Oregon, Valley City State (N.D.) at Simpson (Calif.), MSU-Northern at Eastern Oregon, No. 13 Carroll (Mont.) at Rocky Mountain (Mont.), and Mayville State (N.D.) at Arizona Christian.
ABOUT SOUTHERN OREGON
Southern Oregon, located in Ashland, Oregon, joined the Frontier Conference as an associate member in the sport of football in 2012. The Raiders went 2-4 in the Frontier Conference West Division last season, with wins over Simpson (Calif.) and Arizona Christian.
The Raiders finished the 2025 season with an overall record of 3-7. SOU is in the Frontier Conference West Division, which includes teams from Carroll (Mont.), College of Idaho, Eastern Oregon, Montana Western, Simpson, and Arizona Christian.
The 2026 season will be the fourth for head coach Berk Brown leading Southern Oregon Football. Brown was previously a defensive coordinator for SOU on their 2014 national championship team. He rejoined the Raiders as head coach in 2023 after a stint as an assistant athletic director and high school football coach at Crater High School.
Southern Oregon kicked off their season with a 38-35 road victory against Simpson (Calif.) before dropping their next two contests to NCAA Division II Western Oregon 65-35 and (3) Montana Tech 58-10.
LAST TIME OUT
DSU defended Brian Kern Family Stadium on Blankley Field on Sept. 19, cruising to a 44-17 victory over Arizona Christian.
Tray Hettick threw for five touchdowns in the effort, connecting with five different receivers.
Melek Ford led the Trojans with five catches for 100 yards and a score.
Trajan Davis had an impressive day on the ground, rushing for 119 yards and a touchdown while averaging 13.2 yards per carry.
Defensively for DSU,
Josiah Perez had 10 total tackles, 2 tackles-for-loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
Tamareon 'Frosty' Foster forced three fumbles on the day as well.
Dakota State produced 426 yards of total offense to earn their ninth straight home victory, dating back to the final home game of the 2024 season (defeated Valley City State, N.D.). The Trojans' defense limited the Firestorm to 233 total offensive yards.
DSU lifted their all-time series record to 2-0 with Arizona Christian, winning the series opener in Arizona on. Ironically, the Trojans scored 44 points in both meetings with the Firestorm.
TROJANS IN THE NAIA AND FC EAST RANKS
According to the NAIA-PrestoStats as of Friday, Dakota State ranks 18th in the NAIA in scoring offense with 40.5 points per game. The Trojans rank sixth in the nation with 2.081 total offensive yards and ninth in total offensive yards per game with 520.3 yards.
The Trojans lead the NAIA in passing yards with 1,524 yards by
Tray Hettick. DSU also leads the nation with 17 passing touchdowns. Hettick leads Frontier Conference East Division with 189.4 passing efficiency.
Trajan Davis leads FC East Division with 7.1 rushing yards per carry for the Trojans.
Melek Ford leads the East Division with 580 receiving yards, while
Maddox Kihne is third with 347 receiving yards. Ford leads the division with nine touchdowns, 580 all-purpose yards, and 54 points in scoring.
DSU's
Tamareon 'Frosty' Foster leads the Frontier Conference East Division with four forced fumbles.
Kaden Van Otterloo ranks fifth in the FC East Division Elliot Devries,
Jacob Imdieke, and
Josiah Perez each rank third with 4.0 tackles-for-loss.
HETTICK NAMED SEMIFINALIST FOR CAMPBELL TROPHY
Dakota State senior quarterback
Tray Hettick was named one of just three NAIA semifinalists for the prestigious 2026 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented annually by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
Hettick joins Indiana Wesleyan's Arjun Lothe and Texas Wesleyan's Cole Francis among a record 206 semifinalists across all levels of college football. National Football Foundation.
The Selby, S.D., native is a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior majoring in business finance. He earned North Star Athletic Association Fall Sports Scholar-Athlete honors in 2023 and 2024 and was named Frontier Conference Academic All-Conference in 2025.
The Campbell Trophy recognizes the nation's premier football scholar-athlete based on academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. The NFF will announce 12 to 16 finalists on Oct. 21, with each finalist receiving an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and membership in the 2026 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class.
2026 DAKOTA STATE FOOTBALL TEAM LEADERS
- Rushing: Trajan Davis - 34 rushes, 240 yards
- Passing: Tray Hettick - 76-of-130 (58.5 completion rate), 1,4030 yards, 17 touchdowns
- Receiving: Melek Ford - 27 catches, 580 yards, 9 touchdowns
- Scoring: Melek Ford - 54 points - 9 touchdowns
- Punting: Sam Marcus - 14 punts, 522 yards - 37.3 yards per punt
- Field Goals: Malte Hamann - 1 field goal
- Kick-offs: Malte Hamann - 17 kickoffs, 943 yards - 55.5 yards per kickoff
- Returns: Jovi Wolf - 12 returns, 161 yards
- Tackles: Kaden Van Otterloo - 34 tackles (13 solos, 21 assists)
- Tackles-for-loss: Elliot DeVries - 4.0 tackles-for-loss of 23.0 yards loss, Jacob Imdieke - 4.0 tackles-for-loss of 7 yards, Josiah Perez - 4.0 tackles-for-loss of 15 yards
- Sacks: Elliot DeVries - 2.5 sacks, 20.0 yards loss
- Interceptions: Tamareon 'Frosty' Foster - 1 interception, 7 yards return (4 pass break-ups), Michael Foster - 1 interception, 0 yards return, Aidan Jahns - 1 interception, -1 yard return
