2018 Frontier Football Preview: Frontier teams excited about their O-line's, including the Lights

For almost every team in college football, a successful offense has every bit as much to do with how good your offensive line is. At the NAIA level, and especially in the Frontier Conference, it’s no different.

And when it comes to some of the top returning offensive linemen in the league for 2018, new Montana State University-Northern head coach Andrew Rolin is thinking he doesn’t just have one or two of them, but he feels like he’s got an entire unit full of them.

“I’m really excited about our O-line,” Rolin said. “I really believe that group is one of the major strengths of our team going into fall camp. You saw it in the spring, they performed really well, and got better every single day.”

And Rolin should be excited because the Lights return a ton of experience on the line, led by senior Clint Willis (6-7, 300). Though he’s battled injuries throughout his career, he’s a three-year starter for the Lights and one of the top returning tackles in the Frontier. Juniors Dylan Schmidt, Ryan Handley and Dale Cummings are also back, while Rolin pointed to junior Trenton Woodward (6-5, 275) and newcomer Darius Alexander Jones as two more linemen that he sees big things for this season.

And, Rolin said the OL will need to have a big season, because they will be the engine that fuels the new-look Northern offense.

“We’re going to run the football,” Rolin said. “We’ll tell everybody that. So, there’s no doubt, we need that group to perform. And I think they will. They are a really solid group, with a lot of talent and experience. And we have good depth there too. So that group is really exciting, and I think they’re going to be great for us this season.”

While Northern has plenty to be excited about in the trenches, as a whole, the Frontier returns just two All-Conference linemen from a season ago.

Included in that group is Eastern Oregon senior Mick Wilson (6-5, 285), who had a strong campaign for EOU’s explosive offense. A three-year starter for the Mounties, Wilson will again anchor what figures to be another offensive minded EOU squad.

Another team which figures to be dangerous offensively this year is Rocky Mountain College, and head coach Jason Petrino returns senior Troy Bacon (6-4, 300), who also earned All-Conference honors a year ago, as well as John Boogard and Zane Guse. That trio will lead the way for what should be a formidable Rocky rushing attack.

In recent years, no one has had a better offensive line than Southern Oregon, and the Raiders return a good one in senior James Hines (6-5, 310). But, head coach Charlie Hall also suffered some key losses to graduation, so the Raiders will be retooling around Hines up front.

Other top OL returning to the Frontier this season include, UM-Western sophomore Noah Danielson (6-3, 260) and Carroll College senior Willy Clements (6-3, 295).

Others in the league to watch this fall are, College of Idaho center Ricky Bowman Jr. (6-1, 280) and tackle Josh Brown (6-7, 270), as both will be instrumental in leading the Yotes’ nationally-ranked rushing attack. Montana Tech senior Trevor Hopf (6-4, 290) is another who figures to stand out in 2018.

Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of stories on the top players at each position in the Frontier Conference. For a glance at the top defensive linemen in the Frontier, see Friday's Havre Daily News.