After just one year of high school football, Peninsula’s Watkins has Division-I aspirations

When Peninsula football coach Ross Filkins asked Camron Watkins to try out for the football team in 2018, his first answer was ‘no.’

“Camron was a kid that we had our eyes on right when he got to Peninsula,” Filkins said. “He had a rugby background that was interesting, but the power that he strikes the soccer ball with, even at a young age, was an eye opener for us. We talked to him, and you could tell he had interest, but wasn’t sure,” Filkins said.

When Watkins received his second offer from Filkins -- now for his junior year -- the kicker accepted, and times have certainly changed.

With just one year of high school football under his belt, Watkins is an emerging recruit.

After a wildly successful junior campaign -- one that featured a 90% field goal percentage and a perfect 41 for 41 on his extra point attempts -- the soccer player-turned-star kicker has Division-I football aspirations.

“[Filkins] came to me, asking if I would be the kicker,” Watkins said. “I said no the first year. He came back (the) second year, and I said ‘I’ll give it a try.’ I really enjoyed it. It’s brought me to places today where I didn’t think I could get to.”

Watkins attended a handful of performance kicking camps this summer, and earned his fifth star at Kohl’s Professional Camps, which ranked Watkins 38th nationally in the 2021 class. Chris Sailer Kicking, a separate camp that Watkins attended, ranked the Peninsula kicker in the nation’s top 40.

Watkins had trained every Sunday with Tim Horn, a kicker at the University of Washington who has handled all of the kickoffs for the Huskies in 2020.

But when COVID shut down athletics on the high school and collegiate level, the kickers took their training off-campus near Westlake.

The lack of field access serves as an example of the obstacles that challenge both players and coaches during a pandemic. That’s particularly the case for college coaches and their recruiting targets, as Division-I programs are still unable to host player visits, Watkins said.

“Not only not being able to go to [Division-I] schools (to) visit them, but the whole delay thing… The uncertainty is nerve-wracking, but it’s okay,” Watkins said. “It was hard to get out (to practice), especially at first. Just to get out on a field and kick… it was hard (to do) that.”

Watkins says his recruiting profile is picking up interest by the day, despite nationwide recruiting hiccups. The Seahawks kicker says he received emails from college coaches on the hunt for a kicker, including a college visit to Fort Hays State University in Kansas last weekend.

It’s an option, Watkins says, but the recruit is still considering other interested programs.

“He really does like Boise State,” Filkins said. “I think that’s probably one of his goals would be to kick for them. Being a kicker in a Power-5 conference is a little bit of a circuitous route to get there, and he’s aware of that. He’s built a pretty good contact (with) people from the specialist world. He’s got his eyes wide open.

“He’s really committed to this, which has been awesome for somebody to find something that he really loves and is passionate about. He’s committed to finding out how good he can really become.”

Peninsula football continues on with their biweekly practice schedule; the team can meet outdoors and with masks on at all times, but personal contact and the use of any equipment is prohibited.

Watkins still plans on turning out for Peninsula soccer, too, but there’s no doubt in his mind on what he wants to pursue beyond the high school level.

“I’ve made (up) my mind,” Watkins said. “Football is my route.”

This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 6:00 AM.