Football | 8/28/2026 8:06:00 AM

Just ahead of the start to the 2026 campaign, the Utah Tech University Football program has announced that fifth year defensive lineman Fasitootai Sagapolu has been voted by his teammates to don the No. 3 jersey for the upcoming season.
 
"Marley" Sagapolu becomes the fifth different Trailblazer to wear the No. 3 jersey since the annual tradition began prior to the start of the 2021 Spring season. 
 
The annual awarding of the No. 3 jersey honors the memory of former Trailblazer football player Abraham Reinhardt, who tragically passed away unexpectedly on March 22, 2019.
 
When Utah Tech head coach Lance Anderson took over the reins of the program three years, he took the opportunity to get familiar with the story of Reinhardt, both as a student-athlete and as a young man. He quickly realized the importance and the impact this tradition has on the Trailblazer football program, a tradition he is honored to continue.    

"Once I heard the story about Abe Reinhardt, the kind of person he was, the kind of football player he was, and his tragic passing, I was very touched and felt like this is something we need to continue," said Coach Anderson in 2024. "I felt it was very important that our team understands who he was and what this jersey truly represents.
 
"Marley is well deserving of this honor," Coach Anderson said of his veteran defensive lineman. "I think there is no one better on the team that exemplifies those characteristics that we talk about with that No. 3 jersey of leadership, hard work, toughness, trust and accountability. 
 
"He is a hard worker on and off the field, he's a great example and role model for the rest of the team, so he is well deserving," Anderson added. 
 
After missing the entire 2024 season due to injury, Sagapolu (6-2, 305; St. George, Utah/Crimson Cliffs HS) enjoyed a stellar comeback campaign in 2025. 
 
Sagapolu started in all 12 games last season and finished the year tied for fifth on the Trailblazer defense with 48 total tackles (15 solo), including 3.5 TFLs. He recorded a career high seven total tackles at Abilene Christian (11/8) and tallied at least 0.5 TFLs in five games, including a solo TFL with five stops vs. Tarleton State (10/11). 
 
"At first I really didn't think I deserved [this honor], but just being consistent in what I do every day, I feel the team voted for a guy who is dependable," Sagapolu said. "I feel [this honor] really represents the team, and now that I'm one of [those players] to represent [Abraham Reinhardt], I'm being held to a higher standard and this will help push me forward so I can be able to push myself both on and off the field. 
 
"No matter where I am, I'm No. 3 now so that's who I'm going to be representing," Sagapolu went on to say.

In his lone season as a Trailblazer in 2018, Reinhardt earned first team all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors at linebacker after he led or co-led the Trailblazers in three different defensive statistical categories. He recorded a team-high 79 tackles, including 47 solo stops and co-led the team with 13.5 tackles for loss. 

Additionally, Reinhardt collected 3.5 sacks and co-led the Trailblazer defense with three interceptions, highlighted by a 66-yard interception return for a touchdown in a season finale road win at Adams State (11/10/18). That pick-six came one week after he recorded a late fourth quarter interception that helped set up the eventual game-winning touchdown in the Blazers' home upset win over then No. 6 Colorado School of Mines (11/3/18). 

Prior to his arrival to then-Dixie State, Reinhardt played two seasons at Riverside (CA) City College, where he finished with 100 tackles and two interceptions in two seasons. A native of Wailuku, Hawai'i, Reinhardt earned all-Poly All-Star, first team All-MIL, and Special Teams Player of the Year honors as a senior at H.P. Baldwin High School.

Trailblazers Chosen to Wear No. 3 in Honor of Abraham Reinhardt
2021 Spring – D'Arman Notoa
2021 Fall – Malaki Malaki
2022 – Malaki Malaki
2023 –  Syrus Webster
2024 – Chris Street
2025 – Chris Street
2026 – Fasitootai Sagapolu

Utah Tech kicks off its seventh season of NCAA D-I FCS play, and begins its first season as a member of the Big Sky Conference, on Saturday, August 29, when the Trailblazers welcome defending FCS champion No. 1/1 Montana State to Greater Zion Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 8 p.m. (MT).