Football season preview: Defensive Line

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Junior co-captains Dillon Guthro (Newburyport, Mass.) and Kevin Lazo (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) will give the Bryant University football team one of the best defensive lines in the Northeast Conference this fall.

This is the four of an eight-part season preview for the Bryant football team. BryantBulldogs.com previewed the special teams on Thursday, the defensive backs on Friday and the linebackers on Saturday. It will also preview the offensive line/tight ends (Monday), wide receivers (Monday), running backs (Tuesday) and quarterbacks (Wednesday) leading up to the season opener on Sept. 2.

With Guthro on one end and Lazo causing havoc in the middle, the Bulldogs like the group they have going into the Sept. 2 opener with Merrimack.

"The defensive line has worked very hard this offseason in the weight room and on the field," defensive line coach Michael Donovan said. "We have a good amount of game experience up front and they've shown that they are tough, physical players who have embraced their roles in our scheme."

Bryant's chosen leaders, the co-captains are both entering their fourth year in the program, with each having missed a season due to injury. Guthro started all 11 games a season ago, finishing with 48 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks. In 22 career games, Guthro has posted 18.5 tackles for a loss.

Lazo, on the other hand, came into his own last season, starting all 11 games at defensive tackle and finishing the year with 46 tackles, one sack and two blocked field goals.

"It's a tremendous asset and a special situation to have both team captains playing up front," Donovan said. "They both do such a great job of holding the entire group to a high standard and are taking on mentor roles to the younger guys in the group."

A byproduct of Guthro's and Lazo's experience should be the increased production of the players around them. Bryant's defensive line will also feature juniors Anthony DiMatteo (Holbrook, N.Y.) and Kodi Ojukwu (Dix Hills, N.Y.) and sophomore Tomas Wright (St. Augustine, Fla.), all of whom earned considerable playing time last season. DiMatteo posted 13 tackles and 2.5 sacks, Ojukwu battled injury to appear in four games and Wright showed big-play capability with 6.5 sacks, seven tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles.

"Kodi and Tomas are both developing into excellent, all-around defensive ends that are strong in both the run and the pass," Donovan said. "Anthony provides us with a very reliable presence on the inside and is developing into a leadership role within the group.

"Every group on the team has equal importance as it's so important that all 11 guys on the defense are executing their responsibilities," Donovan added. "As a defensive line, it's important that we do a great job with our assignments in the run game and win our one-on-one match ups in the pass game to get to the QB."