Injuries stole his junior season and pandemic took away fall football. Peninsula’s Sims eager for a chance

In the first round of Peninsula’s 2019 playoff run, Landon Sims suffered yet another setback to his season that would prove to be the last.

A routine handoff to the Seahawks running back during their 35-0 rout of Arlington resulted in a broken clavicle, the last of three injuries that capped off a frustrating year for the now-senior.

“It was heart-wrenching being taken off the field,” Sims said. “I went to my medical trainer right after it happened and I told him, ‘something is wrong. I don’t know what it is but it just doesn’t feel right.’ He took off my pads and he goes ‘dude, you’re not playing. It’s broken. You’re done.’

Sims couldn’t process what he was just told. He looked at the trainer, stunned.

“And I’m like, ‘what do you mean I’m done?’ … And in the moment, that took a huge toll on me, because you’ve got all of that adrenaline going. It’s just not something you don’t want to hear. Thankfully, I was a junior and could look forward to next season, but alas, that did not happen.”

Sims currently sits as a member of Peninsula’s loaded senior class, one that coach Ross Filkins says could be the best ever in his some two and a half decades of coaching. Yet none of them have been given the opportunity to suit up for their final year, as coronavirus restrictions continue to restrict high school sports throughout the fall months.

It’s a situation that hits players like Sims the hardest; sidelined by injury as a junior and by the virus as a senior, a college-worthy player like Sims has had little opportunity to garner statistics, showcase highlights, and show recruiters his value on both sides of the ball.

Before his junior year, the running back-linebacker had yet to suffer an injury. Not a strain, not a pull, to use Sims’ words.

But that changed dramatically during the 2019 season, when Sims suffered a high-ankle sprain in Peninsula’s second game. After a two-week recovery period, which featured physical therapy work with the team’s medical trainers, the then-junior received more serious news: he needed immediate eye surgery.

Sims was diagnosed with keratoconus, a progressive eye disease that causes blurred vision and light sensitivity.

“My case was one of the fastest they’d ever seen, and so they (said) you need to get this done now, because some people can go blind with it,” Sims said.

After successful surgeries, Sims fully recovered, and says his vision actually improved, which helps his play on the field.

The broken clavicle was the last of three, tough injuries on the Peninsula senior, but Sims says he’s back to 100% and ready to go at the drop of a hat. That’s apparent to his coach, who can move Sims around on defense confidently.

“He has really good vision,” Filkins said. “He’s got a good little bounce to him as a running back. But he’s coming up on 6’3” and without a doubt still growing… I really feel like he is going to be one of these big, rangy, athletic, outside linebackers. That might be his best position going forward.”

Sims’ versatility developed early; his father, Travis, set numerous records as a running back for the University of Hawaii, and Landon chose the same position. But as he continued to grow, Sims suddenly became a valuable defender.

“People look at me and see that I’m 6’3” and they say ‘you’re a running back?’ It’s a question I’ve received from basically every coach that I’ve talked to,” Sims said. “I’m open to basically any position they want me at. I’ve been thrown around all over the defense. I’ve been a safety, I’ve been an outside linebacker, I’ve been a defensive end. I’m pretty flexible as [to] play style.”

And so Sims will enter 2021 with the hopes of playing his senior year and proving his value to college programs, all while sporting a 4.0 GPA.

“I’m always an education-first kind of guy,” Sims said. “Any school that has a great academic success rate and has a great football team… that’s what I’m looking for.”

For now, Peninsula continues on with their biweekly, socially-distanced practice schedule, which is part of an offseason coaching period hosted by the school.

Peninsula’s captains have put together additional out-of-school practices at Sehmel Homestead Park, which allows some of their core backs and receivers to scrimmage and run routes while the Seahawks wait for their opportunity to suit up.

“I’ve been training so much… not just me, but a lot of my senior buddies,” Sims said. “We’ve been putting in so much work in this offseason. It’s kind of a blessing that we have so much time to prepare, and that we’ve been utilizing it the way we have. I just want to make the most of it, because once (the season) finally rolls around, I want to put all of that hard work to use.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 11:08 AM.