The Peninsula High School football team set course for summer training last week and played its first scrimmage against the South Kitsap Wolves at Roy Anderson Field.
The Seahawks, who are coming off a 7-3 season, reached the Class 3A state preliminary round last fall. And while they may be returning more players than they lost due to graduation, they’ll also need key players to step up at skill positions.
Peninsula had great depth at running back last year, with Brandon James leading a four-man rotation. James finished the season with 19 touchdowns.
“We’re a little more experienced this year,” head coach Ross Filkins said. “We have a larger senior class and more starters back.”
But with James and the quicker, more elusive JD DeVega gone from the backfield, the Seahawks will look to seniors Darrian Creamer and Al Rasmussen to run the ball.
Creamer took a sweep for a touchdown against the Wolves during the scrimmage last week, but Rasmussen suffered a minor bone fracture in his left foot. The injury shouldn’t prevent him from being ready for opening week in September.
“A lot of juniors last year got a lot of playing time, and the seniors trained us up,” Rasmussen said. “All the experience is coming out and, hopefully, we’ll be able to show that we’re a good team this year.”
At receiver, Peninsula will be looking to fill the shoes of its two best flankers, Jacob Pasion and Tony Lewis. Filkins said he may use a running back as a slot receiver on occasion, in order to give senior quarterback JR Grosshans more options from which to choose.
“The development of our offense and defense is happening a little bit faster,” Filkins said. “There will be some formations and packages we should get to that we weren’t able to last year.”
While Grosshans connected with senior Johnny Johnson for a bubble-screen touchdown during last week’s scrimmage, he missed on several attempts to throw the ball down the field.
Creamer lined up in the slot and caught a pass on a slant route for about 10 yards.
Rasmussen said that, because the team doesn’t have a solid go-to running back, the team may look to diversify on offense.
“There’s not going to be much difference other than the diversity in the playcalling,” Rasmussen said.
Peninsula’s offensive and defensive lines were undersized last year, despite finishing second behind No. 3 Lakes in the Class 3A South Puget Sound League.
It showed in the state preliminary round, though, when Mount Si tailback Sean Snead racked up 196 yards on 31 carries and scored four touchdowns. The Wildcats finished with 365 yards on the ground.
“We’re still undersized,” Filkins said. “But we’re strong, athletic and smart. If the kids believe they are ready to go and able to get it done, we’ll find out.”
On the defensive end, Peninsula returns its top four players: safety Geoff Grant, linebacker Rasmussen and defensive ends Christian Doucett and Creamer.
Grant, who led the team with four interceptions last year, showed his physical play in the scrimmage against South Kitsap, laying down a couple fine hits and a pancake-block during the bubble screenplay that sprung Johnson for the score.
Filkins said the Seahawks will look to spread the field out a little more this year. He added that Grosshans may be relied upon to be more of a leader in the playcalling.
“How the game is being called will be something different than last year,” Filkins said. “We definitely feel like we have a quarterback we can trust and will call a percentage of the game this year.”
The Peninsula football team will head to Oregon State University for a team camp this weekend.
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