VALLEY CITY, N.D. – It was football's turn as the Frontier Conference held its Virtual Media Day for the teams that will make up the East Division on Wednesday, August 6^th. Former members of the North Star Athletic Association, Dakota State, Mayville State, Dickinson State, and Valley City State join MSU-Northern, Montana Tech, Rocky Mountain College to form the East Division.

Head Coach Dennis McCulloch was joined by junior safety Gavin Gerhardt and junior wide receiver Jake Deutsch to talk about the upcoming season, their first in the Frontier Conference.

The Frontier Conference features 14 teams divided into the East Division and the West Division. Each school will play six conference games. Each division will be granted one automatic berth into the NAIA Football Championship Series. The team with the best record within each division will earn the corresponding automatic playoff berth. There is an opportunity for the conference to get one or more at-large berths.

"I wish we could take people back to all the experiences we went through over the last year and a half when we first started to hear about the disbanding of the North Star and how that felt for the remaining schools. For all the universities to make decisions on where you are going to be and what you're going to do. You hear a lot of rumors; there are a lot of things going on. But somehow all these things came together.  Combining all the current North Dakota schools with the Frontier, it has been a positive move and solidifying so many things in a positive way for us all." Coach McCulloch said about joining the Frontier Conference.

Gavin Gerhardt was asked what he likes about Valley City State University football. "On the defensive side its full go, and I'm a full go type of guy. I give 100 percent effort in everything I do. The great thing about our defense is that everybody gets to the ball no matter where you are at on the field. You could be knocked down at the 50 and the ball is at the 20, you have to get up and run down to get to the ball. That is what I like most about VCSU football."

Jake Deutsch was asked about a trip he is looking forward to this year. "For me, I'm looking forward to going to Oregon. I'm a North Dakota kid so I have never really left the state. So I'm looking forward to getting on that charter plane head to Oregon. We will see some new faces and some new schemes."
 

 

The first game of the season for Valley City State will be Thursday, August 28^th at Dickinson State for a non-conference game. The home opener will be Thursday, September 4^th against Augsburg University. This will be the annual Ag Bowl with kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. The first conference game will be October 4^th against Rocky Mountain College at Lokken Stadium with a noon kickoff set. Other notable games will be September 27^th for homecoming against Simpson University. Mayville State comes to town on October 11^th and Dickinson State will be in Valley City for the final home game of the season on October 25^th.