Football | 2/7/2024 5:30:00 PM

First year Utah Tech head football coach Lance Anderson announced on Wednesday the addition of 20 more players to his inaugural 2024 signing class. Wednesday's group joins nine other student-athletes who signed during the December early signing period.

"I feel really great about our recruiting class overall," Coach Anderson said. "We addressed needs at every position and we are bringing in some very talented kids who are going to help us in the fall."
 
The Trailblazers signed 10 high school players, five of whom are defensive linemen in Utah prep products Blake Jensen (American Fork HS), Clarence Pututau (Woods Cross HS) and Zayden Cook (Payson HS), along with defensive tackle Brandon Jackson from South Oak Cliffs HS in Dallas, Texas.
 
Utah Tech inked six prepsters on the offensive side of the ball, including quarterbacks Banks Jackson(Spanish Fork, Utah/Maple Mountain HS) and Ty McCutcheon (Ewa Beach, Hawai'i/Punahou HS), as well as McCutcheon's high school teammate in running back Alaimaikekaimalie Williams (Manoa Valley, Hawai'i/Punahou HS) and athlete Furious Hoskins from Palo Verde HS in Las Vegas.
 
The Blazers also brought in four offensive linemen, all three of whom have Utah ties, highlighted by Camden Smith from St. George-area Pine View HS, and Las Vegas HS left tackle Karlos Rayford. In addition, Snow College transfers Lakei Kolomalu(Springville, Utah/Springville HS) and Romeo Tiumalu (Ewa Beach, Hawai'i/Bishop Gorman [NV] HS) will head south to St. George to play for the Trailblazer program.
 
Utah Tech's class includes eight mid-year transfers, with three of those tranfers on the offensive side in Syracuse quarterback Luke MacPhail, UMass tight end Eniola Falayi, and San Diego State offensive lineman Rambo Mageo.
 
The Trailblazers added five more transfers on defense, including linebackers Spencer Rich (Memphis) and Elijah Wood (San Jose State), defensive linemen Dane Whalen (Nicholls State) and Tomasi Malafu Fakatoumafi (Williams College), and corner back Caleb Canada (Mississippi Valley State).  
 
"The offensive and defensive lines are where we signed the most guys, and for me that's where things really start, Coach Anderson noted. "If we want to be a physical, tough football team, if we want to run the football on offense and stop the run on defense, we got to have great linemen and I think we did a great job in addressing those positions with this recruiting class.
 
"We signed at least one person at every position," Anderson added. "All these guys are quality guys, guys who are really going to help us and develop into good football players. We're sure excited about the future going forward"
 
Utah Tech signed nine high school student-athletes this past December, four of whom hail from the state of Utah. That early class also featured six players on offense, including two running backs, two wide receivers and two offensive linemen. The Trailblazers also added three defensive backs to round out the early class.

Utah Tech, which will be eligible for NCAA Division I FCS postseason play for the first time in program history this upcoming fall, closed its final D-I transition season in 2023 with a 2-9 overall record, which included a 1-5 mark in UAC play. 

 

NAME	POS.	HT.	WT.	HOMETOWN/PREVIOUS SCHOOL
Blake Jensen	DE/OLB	6-3	235	American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS
Camden Smith	OL	6-3	290	Washington, Utah/Pine View HS
Brandon Jackson	DT	6-2	285	Dallas, Texas/South Oak Cliff HS
Clarence Pututau	DE	6-1	265	Woods Cross, Utah/Woods Cross HS
Banks Jackson	QB/WR	6-3	180	Spanish Fork, Utah/Maple Mountain HS
Ty McCutcheon	QB	6-3	185	Ewa Beach, Hawai'i/Punahou HS
Zayden Cook	DL	6-2	260	Goshen, Utah/Payson HS
Lakei Kolomalu	OL	6-3	295	Springville, Utah/Springville HS/Snow JC
Romeo Tiumalu	OL	6-2	275	Ewa Beach, Hawai'i/Bishop Gorman (NV) HS/Snow JC
Alaimaikekaimalie Williams	RB	6-0	210	Manoa Valley, Hawai'i/Punahou HS
Furious Hoskins	ATH	6-1	210	Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde HS
Karlos Rayford	OL	6-4	307	Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas HS
Spencer Rich	LB	6-1	225	Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood HS/Memphis (MYTR)
Elijah Wood	LB	6-3	205	Elk Grove, Calif./St. Mary's HS/San Jose State (MYTR)
Dane Whalen	DL	5-10	280	Osage City, Kan./Osage City HS/Nicholls State (MYTR)
Rambo Mageo	OL	6-5	315	Laie, Hawai'i/Cathedral Catholic (CA) HS/San Diego State (MYTR)
Tomasi Malafu Fakatoumafi	DT	6-3	300	Hau'ula, Hawai'i/Punahou HS/Butler CC/San Bernardino Valley CC/Williams College (MYTR)
Luke MacPhail	QB	6-4	212	Winthrop, Mass./Dexter Southfield HS/Syracuse (MYTR)
Caleb Canada	CB	6-3	205	Jackson, Miss./Ridgeline HS/Delta State/Mississippi Valley State (MYTR)
Eniola Falayi	TE	6-5	240	Boston, Mass./Williston Northampton HS/UMass (MYTR)
Ben Acker-Oatis	OL	6-2	293	Salt Lake City, Utah/Syracuse HS (December Signee)
Demarion Jenkins	WR	5-9	160	Belle Grade, Fla./Pahokee HS (December Signee)
Asa Chatman	RB	5-10	185	Lake Elsinore, Calif./Murrieta Valley HS (December Signee)
Charles Richard Clinton II	WR	6-2	180	Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS (December Signee)
Kyle Parker	DB	5-10	161	Long Beach, Calif./LB Millikan HS (December Signee)
Jace Sweeten	S	6-3	195	St. George, Utah/Crimson Cliffs HS (December Signee)
Easton Hicks	RB/KR	5-10	190	Riverton, Utah/Riverton HS (December Signee)
Foster Slaughter	S	6-1	175	Perris, Calif./Los Alamitos HS (December Signee)
Jacob Zarate	OL	6-6	280	St. George, Utah/Crimson Cliffs HS (December Signee)