Part #1: Quarterbacks  |  Part #2: Offensive Line  |  Part #3: Running Backs & Fullbacks  |  Part #4: Wide Receivers & Tight Ends
 
University of Hawai'i's season opener against Southern California is less than a month away, and with fall camp underway, HawaiiAthletics.com will breakdown the 2013 Rainbow Warrior football team, position-by-position. Today's feature is the UH defensive line.
 
VIDEO: Coach Powell on the Defensive Line
 
Starters Returning: Siasau Matagiese, Beau Yap
Starters Lost: Haku Correa, Paipai Falemalu
Lettermen Returning: Ho`oikaika Cavaco-Amoy, George Daily-Lyles, Marcus Malepeai, Moses Samia, Tavita Woodard
Others Returning: Iuta Tepa
Redshirts: Mike Andrade, Hunter Thomson
Newcomers: Dejon Allen, Nick Childs, David Manoa, Haani Tulimaiau, Kennedy Tulimasealii, Niko Uti
 
Last season was a year to forget for a University of Hawai'i defensive line unit that suffered four season-ending injuries which left the group depleted for much of the year.
 
Several key players return in 2013, including tackle Siasau Matagiese, a senior from Waimea, Kaua'i, and end Tavita Woodard, a senior from Honolulu. Matagiese started eight games and missed one contest after suffering a neck injury which forced him to be carted off the field. Entering his senior season, he has taken a leadership role and was rewarded as one of two players to represent the team at the annual Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas.
 
Woodard earned honorable mention all-MW honors after recording 38 tackles and 5.5 sacks last season. He along with returnee Beau Yap, a junior from Pearl City, O'ahu, combine for a formidable tandem at end for the Rainbow Warriors. Yap led all linemen with 10.5 tackles for loss along with three sacks last season.
 
Among the other notable returnees include tackle Marcus Malepeai, a junior from Honolulu, and tackle Moses Samia, a junior from 'Ewa Beach, O'ahu, and one of four who were sidelined last season. Malepeai saw time at both tackle and end while Samia started two games before suffering a torn ACL against Lamar and missed the remaining 10 games of the season.
 
Converted linebacker George Daily-Lyles enters his final season at a new position. The senior from Long Beach, Calif., made a smooth transition during the spring and wreaked havoc in the spring intrasquad scrimmage with four sacks. Ho'oikaika Cavaco-Amoy, a senior from Waimanalo, O'ahu,  also returns along with UCLA-transfer Iuta Tepa, a senior from Long Beach, Calif., who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
 
Redshirts Mike Andrade, a freshman from Kealakehe, Hawai'i, and Hunter Thomson, a freshman from Waialua, O'ahu will also compete for playing time.
 
The line was bolstered with the addition of a solid group of freshmen and transfers, most notable prized recruit Kennedy Tulimasealii, from Wai'anae, O'ahu, who was rated a Top 300 recruit nationally by ESPN. The freshman earned first-team all-state honors three times out of Wai'anae High and was selected to start in the Under Armour All-America game.
 
Among the group of newcomers include Dejon Allen, a freshman from Compton, Calif.; David Manoa, a freshman from San Mateo, Calif.; and Niko Uti, a junior from Kapolei, O'ahu. Allen, a standout player out of Dominguez High in California, was among the top prospects in Los Angeles County, while Manoa was a two-way player at Aragon High School and the son of Tim Manoa, who was an All-American at Penn State.