You can’t blame Sammamish coach Edd Webb if he’s not sad to see Newport, Skyline and Issaquah head to KingCo 4A. It’s nothing personal, he says; Webb and the Totems are just happy to see them go.
After all, Sammamish lost to the three teams by a total of 155-34. So if anybody isn’t going to shed a tear over their departures, it’s the Totems, who are looking to improve off of last year’s one-win performance in a new-look KingCo.
“Those are some great guys and some great teams, but I am not upset about not playing them,” Webb said with a laugh at the Totems practice last Wednesday. “We match up better with these teams, but it will still be a tough league.”
This year figures to give the Totems a better shot at being competitive in games; last year Sammamish was 1-9 overall and 0-8 in KingCo. And even though the Totems were overmatched in most games last season, Webb says the improvement from last year will be evident this season.
Sammamish did lose four-year starting quarterback Patrick Rooney, who passed for 862 yards and eight touchdowns last season. Rooney passed for 2,537 yards in his career as the Totems starter behind center.
“His loss is huge,” Webb said. “In the past, we were able to throw the ball a lot because we had a kid like Patrick. We don’t have a kid like him this year, so we’re going to be running the ball a lot more.”
Stepping in is senior Derrick Young to run Sammamish’s new look offense, which Webb says will spread the ball around as much as possible.
“My goal this year is to have 10 kids score touchdowns,” Webb said. “We want to be a multiple threat team where you can’t just take one kid out. We’re little, but we’re also scrappy and Derrick Young epitomizes that.”
Sammamish will feature an experienced offensive line with three seniors and two juniors. One of those seniors, Cameron Akana, will be counted on by Webb to lead the team. Akana, a four-year starter, was an All-KingCo honorable mention pick at center for the past two seniors.
“Cameron is tough, and smart, and backs down from no one,” Webb said. “He’s a weight room beast and he’s paid his dues.”
Akana will team with fellow senior Louie Randall, Richard Guevara and Cody Martinell to hold down the line, the latter two coming back from season-ending injuries last season. The line will protect a variety of running backs including Newport transfer Arkady Ayrapetov, who scored two touchdowns for the Knights last season, and Henry Simekha, who Webb calls the fastest player on the Sammamish roster.
“We’re not really big but we’ve got better speed than we’ve ever had here,” Webb said. “We’re fast and the offense we’re running is going to be geared around that. We’re just trying to put all of the pieces together.”
Webb says one thing is for certain this year, unlike in years past: there is some serious commitment from every player on the field.
“The kids that are here have been through it,” he said. “Summer conditioning was brutal; I really pushed them this year and they responded. The kids that aren’t serious about playing football aren’t here.”
Sammamish originally was scheduled to host Chief Sealth in a non-conference game to open the season on Sept. 5, but Sealth was forced to forfeit. The Totems will instead take on West Seattle at Seattle Memorial Stadium on Sept. 6.
“We’re pretty excited this year,” Webb said. “We’ve got some kids who have been with us a while and they know what we’re trying to do with the ball. We’re small but we’ve got heart. Lot’s of heart.”
Joel Willits can be reached at 425-453-5045 or at jwillits@reporternewspapers.com.
