Sep. 4—MITCHELL — Dakota Wesleyan University football will take the field Saturday morning to open the Tigers' home schedule and the Great Plains Athletic Conference slate against Doane University.
The Tigers are looking for a rebound after last week's close loss to Dakota State in Madison. They will do so after Doane did not get to play in Week 1 due to their opponent, Texas College, forfeiting the game in Crete, Nebraska for health reasons. Earlier this week, the NAIA awarded the game as a forfeit and a win for Doane. But that makes the GPAC's Tiger Bowl more of a question mark with Doane not previously getting on the field last week.
Here's a look at DWU's matchup on Saturday:
When: 11 a.m. Saturday.
Where: Joe Quintal Field.
Records: DWU: 0-1 (0-0 GPAC); Doane: 1-0 (0-0 GPAC)
Coaches: DWU's Alex Kretzschmar (8-15, third season); Doane's Jonathan Johnson (6-16, third season)
All-time series: Doane leads the all-time series 25-16-1.
Last meeting: DWU won 33-7 on Oct. 4, 2025 in Crete, Nebraska.
Last time out: DWU lost its season opener on Aug. 29 to Dakota State 35-27 in Madison. Bypassing the forfeit, Doane last played a game on Nov. 15, 2025, which was a 27-17 win at Waldorf.
Notes: Dakota Wesleyan has won the last three meetings in this series and five of the last six. ... Doane is looking for its first win in Mitchell since Oct. 5, 2019, which was a 38-20 victory at Joe Quintal Field and ended a run of five-straight DWU wins in the series. ... Saturday's game was moved up by two hours due to expected heat conditions. It's the second time in four years DWU has moved up a Labor Day weekend home game due to hot weather. ... Since joining the GPAC in 2000, DWU is 15-11 in home openers and 11-15 in conference openers.
About DWU: DWU is coming off its best rushing yardage game in more than a year, rushing 26 times for 147 yards against Dakota State. Landon Iverson had 75 yards on the ground to lead DWU. The Tigers' 2025 single-game high for rushing yards was 142 yards at Concordia on Sept. 13, 2025. ... In terms of scoring touchdowns, DWU was perfect (3-for-3) on red-zone trips for the first time since 2024, when DWU was 4-for-4 against Doane in a 47-21 win. ... The Tigers also allowed only one sack in the DSU game, a major step forward after allowing 43 sacks in 11 games in 2025. ... Defensively, powered by Reed Rus' three sacks in his DWU debut, the Tigers had four sacks, which is only the second time DWU has racked up that many sacks since 2022.
About Doane: According to Doane records, the Tigers are coming off their first forfeit win since 1978 when William Jewell (Mo.) forfeited a game to Doane. ... In terms of returners from 2025, Doane has Noah Booras back after throwing for 205 yards after graduating multi-year starter Sam Hartman. But the Tigers lost their top three rushers and their top two receivers from last season. ... Doane was picked 10th in the preseason GPAC poll prior to the season.
Next: Dakota Wesleyan will play its first GPAC road game next Saturday with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Waldorf in Forest City, Iowa, while Doane will travel to Morningside for a 1 p.m. game.
GPAC schedule
Saturday, Sept. 5
Hastings at No. 8 Dordt, 6 p.m.
No. 24 Northwestern at No. 7 Morningside, 7 p.m.
Waldorf at Midland, 7 p.m.
Briar Cliff at Mount Marty, 7:30 p.m.