2018 Frontier Football Preview: Secondary players a key to Frontier success

The secondary. It's the last line of defense in football. And when it comes to the Frontier Conference, which features a great balance of teams who can both throw and run the football, having dynamic players in the secondary is a huge recipe for success.

The secondary at Montana State University-Northern has been an area where the Lights have struggled at times in recent years. And heading into his first season at the helm, new Northern head coach Andrew Rolin said the secondary is certainly an area where the Lights will have work to do as fall camp nears.

"Our secondary, that's a position where we've got a lot of young guys, and guys who are going to have to come in and compete right away," Rolin said. "It's going to be a competition throughout camp, and we're going to find the four best guys to start for us back there."

One player the Lights are excited about is receiver turned defensive back Caymus Thomas, who absolutely excelled in spring drills. But as a whole, Northern's secondary is probably the most up-for-grabs unit in fall camp, which starts Sunday.

And there are plenty of teams in the Frontier that have that same issue as summer draws to close, and that's because top-notch corners and safeties are hard to find.

However, the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears have one of those in returning safety Keenan Fagan. The 5-11, 190-pound senior is the only returning All-Conference performer at defensive back in the entire league, and all he did last year was great - a league-best seven interceptions to go along with 64 tackles. Corner Kendall Jefferson also returns for the Bears after tallying five picks a year ago.

When it comes to defensive backs, Carroll College has always turned out some great ones, and head coach Mike Van Diest has two stalwarts returning this fall in seniors McBride Galt and Drew Melton. In 2017, the duo combined for 120 tackles and four interceptions for a Carroll squad that was one of the best defenses in the league.

Graduation hit Southern Oregon's secondary hard last spring, as the Raiders' top-ranked defense lost three of four starters on the back end, but, senior A.J. Cooper is back to anchor what will be a young defensive backfield this fall. Other top defensive backs to watch this season include UM-Western's Zach Janis, Montana tech standout and former Chester-Joplin-Inverness star Justin May, and Eastern Oregon's Haziel Ledzema. College of Idaho's Nik Lyons is another DB to watch this fall.

Special Teams

Of course, the secondary isn't the only key position where outstanding players are hard to find. No, a star special teams player can make all the difference in whether a team wins or loses games.

The MSU-Northern Lights have a key piece to their special teams back in punter Sam Tapia, who also kicked for the Lights this spring. Northern did sign a kicker in junior college transfer Diego Morales.

As for the kicking game across the Frontier, SOU kicker Marcus Montano and EOU's Nate Harden are two standouts who return. Harden handles all the kicking duties for the Mounties, while Rocky punter Matt Larson is a standout as well.

In the return game, two of the best in the business are Rocky's Sparks and Carroll's Shane Sipes. Both had kickoff returns from scores a season ago. Montana Tech's Levi Lynde is also a returning All-Conference punt returner.

Editor's Note: This is the sixth installment in our look at the top returning players in the Frontier Conference. For a glance at the top running backs, see Monday's Havre Daily News.