The 2025 Frontier Conference Football Preview - East Division

Iron sharpens iron in the fallout of a fallen Star

Welcome back to the East Division preview!

It would have been too cumbersome to pack all 14 teams into a single article and with the clear separation of divisional competition come October, it made sense to view them as slightly independent entities.

While the East may not be as competitively deep as the West, the teams at the top have been playoff participants recently and have as bright of a future as any programs in the NAIA.

While many of the divisional matchups may not have the brand appeal within the NAIA-sphere as the West Division, we should still get a number of tightly contested and entertaining games through the Fall season.

This is the side of the conference which had some scheduling additions since this chart was published as Mayville State will host the Judson University Eagles on Thursday, August 28th while Valley City State added the Augsburg University Auggies on Thursday, September 4th as the counterpart to their trip to the Twin Cities last year.

Dakota State Trojans

2024 Record: 6-4, 4-4

2025 Head Coach: Josh Anderson

2023/2024 FTE Enrollment: 1,508

While Dakota State continues to construct their new athletic facilities, they're hoping to see the on-field performance of their teams progress as well.

The Trojans will open their season with a 2 week War on the Wesleyans once again as they travel to nearby rival Dakota Wesleyan to open the season before hosting Nebraska Wesleyan on their mission from Lincoln.

They were a surprise last season with a 4-0 start, with much of their success coming from QB Tray Hettick. He was lost for the season early in their week 3 victory over Jamestown, but his return could spur them into a surprisingly successful season.

The schedule could help them finish strong if they stay healthy as their toughest games (SOU, Montana Tech, and Dickinson State) come in consecutive weeks in the middle of the season while they will only go on the road once in the final 5 weeks of the season.

A 6-win season may be their ceiling, but hopefully a more varied schedule than a year ago will attract greater attendance than their quiet success did in 2024.

Dickinson State Blue Hawks

2024 Record: 10-2, 8-0

2025 Head Coach: Pete Stanton

2023/2024 FTE Enrollment: 946

While the Blue Hawks have dominated the North Star for the entirety of its existence, some may be expecting a steep fall for the program now faced with battling many schools to the west in a single season.

Outside of the division they will be tested by hosting Carroll and traveling to Montana Western, but the only real barrier to a divisional championship will be the final game of their regular season as they host Montana Tech before their bye in the final week.

It is a little disappointing to not see Dickinson State face any teams from outside the Frontier before the playoffs, but hopefully that is something that can be improved upon in future years.

The program has benefited in some ways from a lack of stiff competition, but being challenged more regularly will help them be more prepared for the playoffs, and they already have a strong recruiting chip in their corner as the school has chosen to offer in-state tuition rates to all US citizens - opening recruiting doors in all markets for the program to find talent.

The program will be looking to replace nearly all of their production from a year ago, but with a strong and stable coaching staff in place, they know what they are trying to accomplish and how to get production from their roster to get them there.

Mayville State Comets

2024 Record: 4-6, 3-5

2025 Head Coach: Rocky Larson

2023/2024 FTE Enrollment: 524

Last season’s record hides the fact that this was a much improved team over 2023, but after losing starting QB Tim Salmon in their first game and still getting out to a 4-2 record, their offense was too limited to handle a second go-around against their conference foes and they finished the season with 3 losses of 7 or fewer points - a 7-3 record was within reach.

But with a revamped offensive coaching staff and another positive offseason, I am prepared to take a bold stance that this team can go 9-2 this season, though they won't be in playoff consideration.

It's hard to know exactly what their offense will look like, but I'm assuming that Dylan Lamont will be back at quarterback while Jack Simmers should be a major contributor in the offense in a position that might be best described as wingback.

Besides the former Grand Forks Central HS teammates, there's a variety of sophomore and freshman running backs to sift through to find production, as well as a large group of unproven wide receivers. They may be small on paper, but I'm expecting a big step up in speed and explosive plays for the offense.

They will open their season hosting Judson, missing from the above schedule, who will be breaking in a new coaching staff, before hitting the road for 3 weeks.

Facing 2 D3 opponents may sound easy, but after losses to Nebraska Wesleyan the last 2 years, the Comets will need to be focused to avoid another disappointing result.

Their matchup with the Concordia Cobbers is exciting as a potential perennial OOC game as the school is just east of Fargo on the other side of the state border and not a far trip at all. They may not be a familiar foe for Mayville, but the Cobbers defeated Pacific Lutheran the past 2 seasons, which gives me a little more personal interest in seeing them lose to the Comets.

The third road trip will take them on quite the journey to Northern California to face Simpson. Mayville State should have a solid advantage here, but fatigue could become a factor and make this game closer than it otherwise would be.

From there they will have 4 home games in their final 7 games, but the road trips won't get any easier with 2/3 taking them to Montana to face Montana Tech and Rocky Mountain.

The season will be quite a grind with 10 games before their bye in the second to last week of the season, but the strain of this season should turn into long term benefits for the program.

As optimistic as it may be to see 9 wins within reach, the Comets should be favored or no worse than a 50/50 pick in those 9 games with only Montana Tech and Dickinson State as expected losses. Rocky Larson has done a great job building this program and barring major injuries early in the season, I think this Fall is where we will see the progress express itself in the win column.

Montana State-Northern Lights

2024 Record: 1-9, 1-7

2025 Head Coach: Jerome Souers

2023/2024 FTE Enrollment: 682

First things first, it looks like I made a mistake.

After proclaiming my adoration of Mason Dionne going into this season, the Lights’ 2025 roster has gone live and he was not to be seen. I suppose he completed his degree on time in 4 years of university and moved on, so congratulations to Mason, even if I am a little bit disappointed to not get one more year of him lining up behind the quarterback.

So they need to find a new fullback for their triple option.

Currently they only list 3 RBs on their 2025 roster, so I’m guessing it may be somewhat incomplete, but I would lean towards the elder of the group getting the starting job out of the gate - junior Isaiah Murphy listed at 5’11” and 239lbs. The other options listed are sophomore Jaxson Parkinson at 5’7” 166lbs and freshman Rex Williamson at 5’10” 220lbs.

Quarterback is another area looking at a new face as Zach Brooks looks to have graduated as well. Ashton Platt has the most experience on the roster, but he’s has not been able to find much production in his time on the field. It may be sophomore Tyson Buckley who ends up giving them the best chance at success after limited duty against Carroll and Southern Oregon last season. His frame definitely stands out listed at 6’2” and 289lbs from Camp Verde, Arizona, though he may be more limited as a running threat out of the Flexbone than other options.

On the other side of the ball, redshirt sophomore Michael Watkins has the potential to explode in production this season. His numbers last season weren’t going to be anything too noteworthy until their season-ending victory against Rocky Mountain College where he accumulated 5.5 sacks which vaulted him onto the all-conference 2nd team postseason list. Teams will surely look to key on him this season, but his presence may help open the door for other players to emerge as well.

A single conference victory in 3 seasons isn’t anything for HC Jerome Souers to celebrate on its own, but the program is beginning to find itself and the expansion of the conference should give the Lights more matchups where they are able to compete for victories.

The season won’t get off to an easy start as they play all Frontier opponents for their out-of-conference slate which leads to playing Dickinson State twice this season, but it will be interesting to see how they match up with Valley City State and Dakota State later in the year.

The move to divisions should be a benefit to the program as it will give them a better chance to compete, but 1 win a season isn't going to be enough moving forward.

Montana Tech Orediggers

2024 Record: 9-3, 6-2

2025 Head Coach: Kyle Samson

2023/2024 FTE Enrollment: 1,339

While the past two seasons have ended in disappointing fashion with losses at home in the playoffs, this is a program with a trajectory pointed at a National Championship Game, though not this season.

They lost a lot of senior leadership from last season including starters QB Blake Thelen, RBs Landers Smith & Ethan Renner, and WRs Kyle Torgerson & Wyatt Alexander, but they are ready to see new faces emerge to carry them forward.

The biggest story from the recruiting trail was flipping Merek Mihelish from the University of Montana where he had verbally committed to play safety to come to Butte to continue his career as a quarterback. At Helena Capital HS he played for his father, Kyle Mihelish, who is a former Frontier Conference athlete who attended Montana Western, and will now play for another for Helena Capital HS alum in Kyle Samson. Mihelish is coming off a senior season that saw him recognized as the Gatorade High School Player of the Year for the state of Montana and it is exciting to someone of his standing come to the Frontier.

I don't expect Mihelish to contribute much if at all this season - Coach Samson has enjoyed the benefits of using redshirt years in his time at Montana Tech - but signing an athlete of Mihelish’s caliber away from a local D1 program is a sign of where this program is headed.

It is odd to think of Montana Tech as being in the East Division, but geographic imbalance forced their hand, though their travel schedule is more forgiving than most.

Unlike the past two seasons, the Orediggers won't have an excitingly fresh out-of-conference matchup (Central Washington in 2023, Georgetown (KY) in 2024), but they will face the measuring sticks of the West as they host Montana Western to open the season and travel to Carroll and Southern Oregon all in their first 4 games.

There is one rumor that has come across my desk that Montana Tech may be working on arranging an OOC date with Idaho State of the Big Sky Conference for 2026. It feels like a long shot - the Bengals would have little to gain - but I would like to see more Frontier schools find a way to play up a level to push themselves higher.

But regardless of those results they will hold their fate in their hands once again beginning in October where they will benefit from limited travel.

Their 3 divisional road games will see them only need to travel to Havre, Billings, and Dickinson, while Mayville State, Valley City State, and Dakota State will all travel to Butte.

The game to circle is that trip to Dickinson for November 8 which in all likelihood will be a de facto divisional championship game.

Rocky Mountain Battlin’ Bears

2024 Record: 2-8, 1-7

2025 Head Coach: Chris Stutzriem

2023/2024 FTE Enrollment: 773

Rocky Mountain is a program that kept making me ask “Aren't they supposed to be better than this?” last season.

The biggest issue has been inconsistent production on offense stemming from difficulties running the ball and in pass protection, so if the offensive line can do more for the offense, more success should result.

RMC is another program which will face only Frontier teams this year, as well as having to deal with Montana Tech twice, so there is quite a barrier to a successful season for them.

They will travel to Carroll and Montana Tech while hosting College of Idaho and Montana Western in out-of-conference action while getting their toughest divisional opposition at home in Montana Tech, Dickinson State, and Mayville State.

While they avoid any excessive travel to the far-reaching schools of the West Division, it would be nice to see more novel matchups in the future

They lost QB Graedyn Buell and it's unclear who will be replacing him, but they have multiple quarterbacks with experience on the roster as well as an interesting transfer from Los Medanos College in Garrett Deatherage.

I know less about the program than most in the region, but losing to MSU-Northern at the end of last season was a real wakeup call to the coaching staff for how poorly things had spiraled last season.

There are expectations for a major turnaround in Billings but the trials of last season could lead to more than just a single season dip.

Valley City State Vikings

2024 Record: 3-7, 2-6

2025 Head Coach: Dennis McCulloch

2023/2024 FTE Enrollment: 734

The Vikings are in the midst of a major facilities project that should inject some energy into their athletic program including an indoor practice bubble which will help with offseason productivity and a reprieve from bitterly cold weather.

Last season was a disappointment for Valley City as they regressed from 7-3 to 3-7, though apparently 4 of those 2023 victories have been switched to forfeit losses, but I can't find any corresponding news as to the reason why the forfeits were imposed.

The Vikings’ offense struggled all season, losing 4 conference games where they allowed fewer than 20 points, but there was not much production to be found as Noah Chambers and Avery Thorsgard both started at quarterback and combined for only 1,519 yards, 7 TDs and 11 INTs in 10 games through the air.

It appears that Thorsgard will return for a graduate season and offer his dual-threat talents for one more year - which will be necessary as the run game never quite came together outside of his antics either. The only meaningful contribution from a running back came from underutilized freshman Lagarrius Marshell with 384 yards in 9 games.

The Vikings begin their season with 2 Thursday games: first at Dickinson State on August 28th and then their home opener on September 4th hosting Augsburg.

It is a little disappointing that they couldn't figure out a game with Jamestown to continue their rivalry this season, but hopefully that will return in the future. On paper, it looks like a game could have been scheduled as the Jimmies currently have just 10 NSIC games on their schedule with room in Week 1. This could have prevented Valley City State and Dickinson State from having to play an OOC game this season, though DSU would have had to find a replacement game for themselves that week.

Their best chances for wins come from their homes games against Augsburg, Simpson, and Rocky Mountain College, but this season is shaping up to be another difficult year in Valley City.

Outside of Dickinson, the final season of the North Star saw teams struggle to find a quarterback, or replace an injured starter. Offenses never found themselves and with the double round-robin conference slate the season became somewhat of a slog, though many games were close. This season should see many units take a step up if their leaders can stay healthy as there is a bit more personnel carryover from last season among the Dakota teams than the Frontier programs of a year ago.

To speak of the playoffs, I do feel that this will be a down year nationally for the conference. The only programs that might be expected to make the playoffs are Southern Oregon, Montana Western, Montana Tech, and Dickinson State. We could easily end up in a situation where only the division winners end up qualifying for the tournament, though the regular season should deliver some excellent games throughout the season.

Frontier Conference - East Division

Preseason Power Ranking

1. Montana Tech Orediggers

2. Dickinson State Blue Hawks

3. Mayville State Comets

4. Dakota State Trojans

5. Rocky Mountain Battlin’ Bears

6. Montana State-Northern Lights

7. Valley City State Vikings