VIDEO: Healthy and Strong: Peninsula's Experienced Group Hoping to Avoid Pitfalls of 2010

Mention injuries to Peninsula head football coach Ross Filkins and a disbelieving smile casts upon his face.

In 2010, lost more games played by starters to injury than in the previous four seasons combined. If the 2011 version of the team can even just return to normal injury levels, the Seahawks have a chance to make some noise in the SPSL 3A.

Peninsula returns 16 starters – 8 on defense, 8 on offense – from the injury-doomed 2010 squad, more than any Peninsula team in the past three years.

“Last year was a trial by fire for some of these guys," Filkins said. "We were really young, we had a lot of injuries, we had a couple of issues, but what we experienced last year did nothing but make us stronger.”

One key loss from last year's team comes in the form of running back Matt Hensley, who graduated in May 2011. Hensley anchored a Seahawks offense that averaged 22.4 points per game in 2010.

Taking over Hensley's role will be the senior duo of Danny Welstad and Jake Peterson. Welstad, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound power back, is expected to trade snaps with the 5-foot-7 Peterson.

“We have an excellent stable of running backs and coupled with our offensive line, we feel like that’s probably one of our offenses strengths.”

Also new on the offensive side will be junior quarterback Austin Filkins, son of Ross. Filkins is listed at 6-foot-2, 195-pounds and described by his father/coach as a strong-armed QB.

“Austin is fortunate because he takes after his mother, and his football intelligence is really high," Filkins said. "I’m going into my seventeenth year and just about every single game that I’ve been as the head coach at Peninsula High School, he’s been and experienced…and so his normal kind of background of football, seeing us at home, watching film and sitting in on meetings…Austin grew up on this field so his football IQ is really high.”

The most potent weapon on the Seahawks offense may come in the form of tight end Kyle Self. The junior is coming off a stellar sophomore campaign that saw him receive first-team all-league honors and is looking to improve his stats in Filkins' pro-style offense.

“A true tight end in our pro system, it’s hard to find kids like that," Filkins said. "We’re looking for kids early and trying to develop them as freshman, projecting them out when they’re juniors and seniors all the time, but you rarely get a kid like him who’s a physical blocker off the edge, but also can run a great route and has nice soft hands.”

On the defensive side, Peninsula is looking at a young secondary combined with an experienced linebacker and defensive line group. The linebacker duties will fall to the talented trio of Welstad, Self and Jimmy Price and is expected to lead the hard-nosed, if not overly physically impressive defensive unit.

“Defensively, I wouldn’t say that we’re necessarily an overly fast or overly large or none of the kind of classic characteristics," Filkins said. "We had some real tough situations last year, particularly on defense, having fourth and fifth-string linebackers all the way across, starting for us. I just think that their toughness, what they’ve endured, what they’ve experienced, how hard they’re willing to work, that type of culture is something that I think is really powerful on defense.”

Peninsula started the 2010 season slow, posting a 2-4 record before winning three straight to qualify for the regional playoff round. The Seahawks fell 21-7 to O'Dea in the first round of the playoffs, but Filkins said his team is encouraged by the way it ended the season.

“In the last half of the year, once we kind of broke loose, we really got better every single day from there on and we were playing pretty good football at the end of the year," Filkins said. "We ran into a little bit of physical challenge in O’Dea in the playoffs that we just didn’t quite have that maturity for. Having that experience and understanding how close we were despite everything that we went through, these kids are hungry.”

With powerhouse Lakes and threatening Bonney Lake in the always tough league, Peninsula may get passed up when it comes to playoff time. But with 16 returning starters and battle-tested defense, 2011 could mark the return of the Seahawks to the state tournament.