Frontier Preview: Pass rushers, run stoppers abound in the new Frontier

With how high-powered offenses typically are in the Frontier Conference, it's incumbent upon teams to have stout defenses to try and combat that.

And as they say, with defense, it all starts up front.

So, if there's going to be a fall Frontier football season, fans can expect to see plenty of good defensive linemen in the league, and that includes the Montana State University-Northern Lights.

After years of being young up front, the Lights return a great group of veterans, led by Joe Fehr (6-3, 250) at defensive end and Justin Pfeifer (6-0, 285) at defensive tackle. Fehr finished last season with a team-high four sacks, while Pfeifer, a red-shirt junior, had 44 stops. Add in the return of Pat Hammond (6-3, 235), and the Lights have a lot of experience up front.

"I really like the returners on our defensive line," head coach Andrew Rolin said. "Led by Joe Fehr and Justin Pfiefer. Those guys are going to be a real strength for us."

The defensive line should be a strength for Rocky Mountain College, too. The Battlin' Bears are looking for a bounce back season, and on the DL, Mason price (6-3, 210), returns after racking up 12.5 tackles for loss, and earning All-Conference honors a year ago. Tucker Maxwell (6-2, 240), Chad Nebel (6-2, 265) and NCAA DII transfer Dylan Benson should give the Bears one of the deepest lines in the league.

Montana Western will be really good up front, too. Tanner Harrell (5-11, 28) had six sacks a season ago, while Daniel Musso (6-2, 280) and Cole Crosby (6-1, 205) are really good as well. Montana Tech hopes to be stout up front, as well, with the emergence of DE Logan Kolodejcuk (6-1, 230) and Zach Trumble (6-23, 250), while head coach Kyle Samson's squad also added University of Montana stud transfers Cole Rosling at DE and Esai Longoria at DT. Carroll College will look to the return of Garrett Kocab (6-3, 275), an All-Conference performer a year ago, to lead its line into the 2020 season.

And while their won't be a 2020 for Eastern Oregon, College of Idaho or Southern Oregon, those three teams have some of the best defensive linemen in the Frontier.

EOU returns a pair of legitimate Frontier Defensive Player of the Year candidates in Chase Van Wyk (6-3, 245) and Sage DeLong (6-5, 255), who had 14 TFLs a year ago. Both were also First-Team All-Conference standouts for the Mounties. SOU also brings back All-Conference performer Tre Holmes (6-0, 265) while C of I's Kegan McCoy (6-1, 215) is a standout DE for the Yotes.

Editor's Note: This is the second installment of the Havre Daily News Frontier Conference football preview. For a look at the top offensive linemen in the league, see Thursday's HDN.