It has been anything but easy for the Sammamish Totems on the gridiron during the past decade. Wins have been few and far between, numbers have fluctuated and players have been forced to carry the stigma of a poorly performing team around campus.

But recently, there have been signs of life.

Entering his third year at the helm, head coach Brian Tucci believes the program is on the verge of seeing many small successes translate into wins. Much of that confidence comes from witnessing his team raise its level of play during camp at Central Washington University against playoff teams like Kentridge and Lakes.

“Camp was a huge item for us,” Tucci said. “We had some really good success going against a lot of great teams and being able to hold our own.” Linebacker and fullback Acie Black also saw a different attitude begin to take hold of his teammates during camp. “I think we took huge steps in the offseason,” Black said. “There were some pretty decent teams at camp and we put up a fight.” The next step for Tucci and his Totems is to build upon that success in the regular season and he believes they will get a chance in the first week of the season.

A series of scheduling conflicts turned last season’s opener into a classic trap game, leading to a subpar performance against what Tucci considered a beatable Ballard team. The following week, Garfield took down Sammamish on a last second field goal, a win later forfeited by the Bulldogs due to use of ineligible players. With new coaching staffs at both Ballard and Garfield, along with the added incentive of opening its new field in the first week, the complications have been eliminated this time around.

“The first two games, we’ve got games we can compete and be successful in,” Tucci said. “It just looks like we can compete head-to-head with a lot more programs.”

Many of this year’s key contributors on both sides of the ball were pressed into action as sophomores, which coaches hope will mean a high level of production in their senior campaigns. At linebacker, Black has moved from the middle to the strong side and sophomore Stephen Fry takes over in the heart of the defense. “He just loves to play football and loves to hit,” Tucci said of Fry.

As in the past, Sammamish will lean on its running game on offense and has all four players returning in the backfield from last season’s group of starters, including David Stevens, who took over for Taylor Ragan after an injury sidelined Ragan for most of the year. Black, quarterback Austin Lee and Nick Myers will share the carries with Stevens while Tucci believes Joey Sullivan has the potential to become a viable target at receiver. The offensive line will be far less experienced at the left guard and tackle spots than the other three on the line. 2010 all-league honorable mention selection Jacob Shenderovich will anchor the right side at tackle and Tucci is also confident in three-year starter Chance Griffin at center.

The Totems surrendered at least 38 points on defense in every conference loss last season, leading to some changes for 2011 that will put Black and Fry in better position to stop the run and give the seasoned secondary a chance to create some big plays against the pass. “Our defensive backs, most of us have been starting since we were sophomores,” quarterback and defensive back Austin Lee said. “We’re trying to force teams into what we do best and see what we can do.”

Tucci and his staff are eager to see what the starters can do as well, and are not waiting until the first game to find out. Practices during the fall have been filled with “competition” periods and added depth has allowed starters to face off against other starters more often than in previous seasons.

“In the past, there was no hunger because there were no twos pushing the ones,” Tucci said. “Now, we’ve actually got that competition.”

Now, the Totems will try and take the final step. Turning that competition into victories.