Football | 8/15/2025 4:30:00 PM

We put a bow on the offense portion of Utah Tech Football's 2025 season preview with a look up front at the offensive line. The Trailblazers have 16 active players in the o-line room, including five primary starters from a season ago.

Three of the five starters are fifth-year seniors, with Nolan Reynolds (6-5, 295; 12 starts in 2024), Bryce Crowley (6-2, 305 12 starts in 2024) and Chase Richards (6-2, 300; 10 games/5 starts in 2024) anchoring the unit, along with redshirt junior Rambo Mageo (6-5, 315 11 starts in 2024) and true sophomore Trey Price (6-4, 300; 8 games/6 starts in 2024).
 
In fact, seven of the 16 active linemen are returnees from last season, including redshirt junior Logan Hicks (6-6, 300; 10 games/4 starts in 2024) and redshirt senior David Teahon (6-4, 270; 12 games/0 starts), who both saw valuable playing time as well.
 
Mix that veteran group in with a talented set of transfers, highlighted by three FBS transfers and one FCS transfer, as well as two experienced junior college transfers, and three true freshmen. 
 
Then top it off with a well-traveled and seasoned veteran mentor in offensive line coach Ron Hudson, who brings to the table more than 30 years of coaching experience, and you have yourself the makings of a possible breakout season for the Utah Tech offense. 
 
"Experience is valuable, it really is. We're fortunate to have those guys back, mixed with a bunch of new guys," Coach Hudson said. "Having a mix of high school kids, junior college kids, and then FBS transfers all come in, I think that whole mix really adds something to our unit.

"We're not near where we are going to be right now, because they are still gelling together," Hudson went on to say. "But it's such a fun, refreshing environment to be in every day to watch these guys try to gel together and work hard to become a unit. They're actively trying to create a culture that we want, and to watch these kids [who have come] from different backgrounds work together is really a fun thing."
 
LEFT/RIGHT TACKLE
 
Reynolds has seen the bulk of the fall camp snaps at left tackle, this after he started 10 games at center and two more at right guard last season. Reynolds has played in 32 games over his four-plus seasons with the Trailblazers and brings a veteran leadership component to the unit. 
 
Meanwhile, both Mageo and Teahon could also figure in the mix at both left and right tackle. Mageo started 11 of his 12 games played last season at right tackle, while Teahon saw time in all 12 games a season ago after missing the entire 2023 campaign due to injury. 

"We moved Nolan out to left tackle and he looks really solid out there," said Hudson. "We shuffled some things around and moved Rambo back out there and he looks like he's really taken that role and is doing well. He's much leaner, he's much more athletic [than last year] and he's grittier. The grit he's showing here since the end of spring practice has been remarkable."
 
On the right side, freshman Matthew Snarr (6-5, 290) and junior college transfer Greg Fotinopoulos (6-5, 290) have both figured prominently in that position battle. Snarr who signed at Utah Tech in 2022 before leaving on an LDS Church mission, was a two-time all region pick out of Utah prep powerhouse Corner Canyon HS. 
 
Fotinopoulos moved west to St. George from the College of DuPage in Illinois, where he was a 2024 NJCAA first team all-America selection and helped lead the Chapparals to a pair of NJCAA Division II national championships in 2023 and 2024.
 
In addition, redshirt freshman New Mexico transfer Nico Rivera (6-1, 275) could also see time at right tackle.

"We are three-deep [at right tackle] and we feel like we're pretty good," Hudson noted. "We feel like we have some guys who can provide depth and who can compete when they need to.
 
"It's a good [tackle position] group. They've worked their tails off a year ago, but that group was pretty thin. The thing we've done is we've tried to develop a lot more depth, to have some more guys to compete. [Football is] a physical game, it takes a toll on your body and sometimes guys are out, sometimes guys have to miss a week or two. So having enough depth and developing guys is really, really important."
 
LEFT/RIGHT GUARD
 
At both guard positions, the combination of Hicks, Richards, and Price, along with a pair of BYU transfers in redshirt freshman Dallin Johnson (6-3, 295) and sophomore Justice Ena (6-4, 310), along with Southern Utah transfer Zach Brown (6-3, 285), and freshman Sebastian Fonua (6-3, 303; Herriman, Utah/Providence Hall HS), has all seen time during fall camp.
 
Hicks moves over to guard after he played in 10 games with four starts at both tackle positions last season, with three of those starts at left tackle. Meanwhile Richards started in five of 10 games played last season, and made three starts at left guard, along with starts at both right guard and left tackle.
 
Price started the final six games of the 2024 season, with five of those starts coming at left guard, and another at right guard. He along Johnson have seen the bulk of the work at right guard during fall camp.
 
Johnson sat out the 2024 season at BYU as a redshirt after a stellar four-year prep career at Springville (UT) High School, where he was a four time all-region and two time all-state selection at both center and defensive tackle.
 
Ena also saw limited time at BYU, while Brown, who originally signed at Boise State out of high school, could also figure in the mix as well. 
 
"We've been shuffling all of them around [during fall camp]," said Hudson. "Trey has been doing good and we took Logan and moved him from tackle, he's a big body and he's really athletic. Having a big, athletic guard is a huge plus, and he's got tackle athleticism, and we wanted to move him inside to see how he would do there. 

"Chase spent the entire off season working [really hard on technique]," Hudson said. "In fall camp he's been one of the biggest surprises because there were some things he was doing that in spring [camp] he wasn't able to master."
 
"We also have two or three freshman or redshirt freshmen [Ena, Johnson, Fonua] who we forget are freshmen because they are so physical and so athletic," Hudson noted. 
 
CENTER
 
The center spot has at times seen four different players snap the ball in the early goings of fall camp, with Crowley taking the bulk of the first team reps, while he has also lined up at right guard. 
 
Crowley has played in 29 career games at Utah Tech coming into this season, started in all 12 games a year ago, with seven of those starts coming at right guard.

Juco transfer Adrian Lopez (6-2, 290), who was a two-time first team all-NorCal conference selection at Sierra College, has also seen a lot of reps at center, as has true freshmen Cade Draper (6-1, 280). Draper was the 2024 Utah 5A Offensive Lineman of the Year and a first team all-state selection out of Roy High School, while 
 
"We have a competition with three different guys [who bring something different]," says Hudson. "We've got a junior college guy in Adrian, a true freshman in Cade, and we've got Bryce who is a fifth-year senior all competing there. Right now Bryce with his experience is holding the lead there, and it wouldn't surprise me if he's our guy as we get going.
 
"It's cool - we've got a group of guys who've been there, been in the fight here, and then we've got a bunch of young guys who transferred and are coming in who are hungry and are athletic," Hudson said of his entire offensive line unit. "It's still a melting pot right now and it looks like it's starting to take some shape. So let these guys continue to compete and work and grow and learn. They're learning this offense, they're learning me, they're learning the things that I expect from them, and you couldn't ask for a better group of guys."
 
Utah Tech kicks off its sixth season of NCAA D-I FCS play on Saturday, August 30, when the Trailblazers welcome Big Sky Conference power No. 7/8 UC Davis to Greater Zion Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m.