The Dakota State Trojans football team represents Dakota State University, competing as a member of the Frontier Conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The school's first football team was fielded in 1908. The Trojans play their home games at Brian Kern Family Stadium. Their current head coach is Josh Anderson.
History
Conference affiliations South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (1917–2000) Dakota Athletic Conference (2000–2011) NAIA independent (2011–2013) North Star Athletic Association (2013–2025) Frontier Conference (2025–present) Sources:
Conference championships Dakota State has won 5 conference championships. 1973South Dakota Intercollegiate ConferenceJoel Swisher 6–3 5–0 1975 6–3–1 4–1 1976 8–2 4–1 1977 Gary Buer 10–0 5–0 1978 8–2 6–0
Bowl games Dakota State has played in one postseason bowl game. The Trojans have an all-time record of 1–0–0 in bowl games. 1971 Boot Hill Bowl Lee Moran Northwestern Oklahoma State W 23–20
Coaches Current coaching staff Head coach / Tight ends Josh Anderson North Dakota State University Offensive coordinator / Quarterbacks / Camp Coordinator Logan Levy University of Maryland, Baltimore County Defensive coordinator / Defensive backs & safeties / Recruiting coordinator Daidrick Kibbie Dakota State University Offensive line / Equipment coordinator Deonte Randle Dakota State University Linebackers / Special teams / Academic coordinator Tom Clarey Northwestern College Defensive line / Video coordinator Zach Santolla Emory & Henry University Assistant coach Clifton Marshall Graduate assistant / Director of football operations Sadie Lindeman Graduate assistant / Assistant offensive line Tyler Kjetland Graduate assistant / Wide receivers Sam Holman Graduate assistant / Running backs Lane VanderWal Graduate assistant / Specialists Xander Sheehan Student assistant / Assistant defensive backs / Cornerbacks Deveon Moses Student assistant Aaron Brown Team manager Courtney Stewart Source:
Head coaches 1 Charles C. Wagner 1910–19232 George E. Thompson 1924–19273 J. Elbridge Curtis 1928–19304 Chuck Reynolds 1933–19415 Bill Bulfer 1946–19546 Neal Tremble 19557 Homer Englehorn 1956–19618 George Blankley 1962–19699 Lee Moran 1970–197210 Joel Swisher 1973–197611 Gary Buer 1977–197812 Bob Bozied 1979–198013 Tom Shea 1981–198314 Al Weisbecker 198415 Larry Traetow 1985–198816 Gary Roach 1989–199517 Scott Hoffman 1996–199918 Marc Bergan 2000–200119 Gene Wockenfuss 2002–200320 Nate Holtz 2004–200621 Tom Shea 2007–200822 Josh Anderson 2009–present
Rivalries Dakota Wesleyan
The Chamber of Commerce Traveling Cup is a traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the annual game between the Dakota State Trojans and the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers, who are members of the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The traveling trophy was introduced in 2017. Dakota State currently holds a series lead of 7–2.
Black Hills State
The Missouri River Shootout was a traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the annual game between the Dakota State Trojans and the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets. Black Hills State currently holds a series lead of 6–1.
Stadiums unknown (1908–1967) Trojan Field (1968–2022) Dan Beacom Track Complex (2023) Brian Kern Family Stadium (2024–present)
Individual awards and honors All-Americans NAIA
Year Player1950Robert Caselli1970Dan Stratton1972Darwin Robinson1974Toney Blacks1976Jeff Rodman1977Rick RodmanMike Freidel1978Jim JanssenTodd PayerRuss Schwartz1980Brian Leighton1983Clay AmickBruce Johannes1984Bill Nelson1991Mike Katen
Year Player1991Jeff Rensch1993Tard SmithMax Hodgen1994Max Hodgen19951998Steve EideLarry Voss1999Jared Peterreins2000Jeremy JaversJared Peterreins2001Mark Maples2003Tommy Hofer200420052014Zac Woods
Year Player2015Ben Kullos2016Austin Opdahl2017Curt Boeke2018Brodie FrederiksenCurt Boeke2020Noah Guse2021Caleb NielsenNoah Guse2022Cody Brown2024Deveon Moses2025
Source:
SDIC honors All-Conference
"Ronnie" Best (1930) "Art" Johnson (1930) "Bud" O'Dell (1930) "Red" Olsbo (1930) "Buster" Seitz (1955) Larry Dirks (1958) Bob Nangle (1958) John Rath (1958) Arlo Sorheim (1959) Dick Anderson (1962–63) Denny Halseth (1963–64) Dick Greenwood (1965–66) Loren McKinney (1965–66) Tom Petersen (1965–66) Gene Elrod (1965–67) Paul Tanke (1965–67) Dan Meadows (1967) Leo Heilman (1969–70) Dennis Ziebarth (1969–70) Dave Hanneman (1970 and 1972) Pat Behrns (1971–72) Mike Reed (1971–72) Dan Stratton (1971–72) Cliff Anderson (1971–73) Randy Berlin (1972) Darwin Robinson (1972–73) Wayne Stowell (1972–73) Craig Ebert (1973) Deny Lather (1973) Mick Twiss (1973) Toney Blanks (1973–75) Bob Casagrande (1973–75) David Roe (1974) Jeff Rodman (1974–76) Kevin Stormo (1975) Bruce Breese (1975) Ron Estacion (1975) Rick Rodman (1977) Mike Freidel (1976–77) Russ Schwartz (1977–78) Joe Arthur (1978–79) Brian Leighton (1978–80) Todd Payer (1979) Lynn Schuett (1978–79) Jim Janssen (1978–79) Dale Martin (1979) Brian Jacobsen (1980–81) Mark Hughes (1982) Gene Wockenfuss (1982) Clay Amick (1982–83) Tim Ramey (1982–83) Eugene Tetzlaff (1982–83) Rod Kopfman (1982–84) Tony Wrice (1982–84) Mark Jacobsen (1983–84) Bruce Johannes (1983) Keith Stifter (1983–84) Bryan Lund (1984) Mike Thorpe (1984) Bill Nelson (1984) Sylvester Clark (1984) Paul Minor (1984) Brian Kern (1986–87) Tom Cummings (1989) Jeff Rensch (1989–91) Earl Berglund (1991–92) Dave Colberg (1991–92) Mike Katen (1991–92) Mike Mason (1991–92) Paul Naughton (1991–92) Don Simon (1991–93) Scott Millett (1991–93) Ben Button (1992 and 1994) Jason Smidt (1994) Tard Smith (1993–95) Max Hodgen (1992–95) Adam McVane (1994) Chad Ostrem (1994) Josh Anderson (1994–95) Chris Martin (1995) Larry Voss (1996–98) Derek Bush (1998) Steve Eide (1998) Jon Knutson (1998) Rich Nolte (1998) Troy Williamson (1998) Kyle Jellema (1998–99) Craig Jones (1998–99) Jared Peterreins (1998–99) Malcom Spaulding (1999) Justin Thielke (1999) Scot Namanny (1999)
DAC honors All-Conference
Jared Peterreins (2000) Craig Jones (2000) Justin Thielke (2000) Scot Namanny (2001) Jeremy Javers (2000–01) Brad Callahan (2001) Mark Maples (2001) Paul Lutu-Carroll (2001–02) Jesse Zwetzig (2001–02) BJ Podhradsky (2001–02) Tommy Hofer (2003–05) Ben Buisker (2003) Mike Sonne (2003–04) Tom Nielsen (2003) Blake Klinger (2004) Art Solis (2005) Nick Podhradsky (2005) Donald Strand (2005–08) Derek Barrios (2005) Derek Gosch (2005 and 2007) Gaven Davis (2007) Toby Ball (2007) Noah Sanderson (2007) Aaron Aylward (2008) Andrew Fatten (2008) Austen Hanten (2008) T.J. Simmons (2008) Ryan Poss (2009) Joe Whealy (2009–10)
NSAA honors
First-team All-NSAA Zach Ely (2013) Josh Licht (2013) Ronnie Jorgenson (2013) Zac Woods (2013–14) Perry King (2013) Cole Potter (2014–16) Ben Kullos (2014–15) Bobby Tisch (2015) Jason Grady (2015) Jacob Giles (2016–17) Robert Johnson (2016) Austin Opdahl (2016–17) Justin Pontarelli (2016–17) Greg Rodriguez (2016–17) Nic Behrens (2016) Curt Boeke (2017–18) Ryan Dozier (2017–18) Dereck DeVries (2017) Kaden Hight (2017) Brodie Frederiksen (2018–19) Brandon Schmit (2018–19) Mason Leighton (2018) Caleb Nielsen (2018–21) John Trout (2019) Marcus Vanden Bosch (2019–21) Noah Guse (2020–21) Devonte Murphy (2021 and 2023) Mose Timteo (2022) Cody Brown (2022) Jeremiah 'JJ' Beck (2022–23) Noah Karwacki (2022) Braxton Lacher (2023) Tyce Ortman (2024) Tyler Kjetland (2024) Caleb Dwyer (2024) Taron Serr (2024) Deveon Moses (2024)
Second-team All-NSAA Jeremy Christner (2014–15) Zach Ely (2014) Steven Gram (2014–15) Trevor Kenobbie (2014) Austin Ross (2014) Brendon Waldner (2014) Robert Johnson (2015) Austin Opdahl (2015) Greg Rodriguez (2015) Bronson Arguello (2015) DaVeon Banks (2015) Mitchell Galloway (2016) Andrew Adlersberg (2016) Thomas Romack (2016) Nic Behrens (2016) Brodie Frederiksen (2017 and 2019) John Trout (2017–18) Baily Edwards (2017) Danny Jordan (2017) Marcus Vanden Bosch (2018) Xavier Perez (2019) Riley Janke (2019) Noah Guse (2019) Conner Tordsen (2020–21) Braeden Wallenstein (2020) Jason Sakamoto (2020) Caleb Nielsen (2020) Mose Timteo (2021) Zach Rohrbach (2021) Gustavo Bonilla (2021) Jay Skogerboe (2021–22 and 2024) Tyce Ortman (2022–24) Devonte Murphy (2022) Max Sonne (2022) Noah Karwacki (2022) Tyler Kjetland (2023) Uziel Ruiz (2024) Melek Ford (2024) Austin Lake (2024) Collin Bruggeman (2024) Carson Sauseda (2024)
Honorable mention All-NSAA Austin Ross (2013) Bobby Tisch (2013) Ben Kullos (2013) Cole Whisenhunt (2013) Chad John (2013) Darion Office (2016) Curt Boeke (2016) Dereck DeVries (2016) Alvin Reels Jr. (2016) Brendon Waldner (2017) Michael Cleveland (2017–18) Brandon Schmit (2017) Brywn Ractliffe (2017) David Bond (2018) Mitchell Galloway (2018) Alexander Maxey (2018 and 2020–21) Wyatt Sanford (2019) Cole McCarty (2019–20) Karson Lindblad (2019) Braedon Wallenstein (2019) Riley Janke (2020) Jacob Hirsch (2020) Nico Feroni (2021) Jason Sakamoto (2021) Edward Fritzler (2021) Joshua Shaffer (2022) Gustavo Bonilla (2022) Travis Rebstock (2022) Cooper McDermott (2022) Tray Hettick (2023) Cole Sylliaasen (2023) Caleb Dwyer (2023–24) Marcis Hausman (2023) Chris Guipi-Bopala (2024) Brooks Jansen (2024) Kaden Eng (2024) Joseph Taylor (2024)
Frontier honors
First-team All-Frontier East Division Preston Iverson (2025) Tyler Kjetland (2025) Uziel Ruiz (2025) Jordan Cooper (2025) Deveon Moses (2025)
Second-team All-Frontier East Division Tray Hettick (2025) Melek Ford (2025) Caleb Dwyer (2025) Brooks Jansen (2025) Taron Serr (2025)
Honorable mention All-Frontier East Division Maddox Kihne (2025) Kacey Cauley (2025) Adrian Villanueva (2025) Tamareon Foster (2025)
Source:
NFL Players Darwin Robinson – Washington Redskins, Seattle Seahawks Danny Stratton – Cleveland Browns
CFL Players Tommy Hofer – Toronto Argonauts
References
External links