Finally healthy, Van Fillinger primed for big season

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) – After bursting on the scene in 2021 with 5 1/2 sacks as a freshman, defensive end Van Fillinger has been fighting through a foot injury.

Fillinger still had 7 1/2 sacks over the next two seasons, but hasn’t felt 100 percent healthy until now.

“I finally feel healthy,” Fillinger said about going into his senior season with the Utes. “I feel the best I’ve ever felt. Last year, I really struggled with my foot injury and breaking it. But I feel like I’ve came to the good mindset every day trying to get better.”

Just knowing every game he played over the last two seasons that he wasn’t at full strength took a toll on Fillinger.

“Mentally it was terrible, just because I felt like I knew what I had to do and I couldn’t do it physically,” Fillinger said. “So it really took a hit on me mentally. I was coming to practice, and I wasn’t really getting much better. It just I was just trying to get by. Now, going through that, I feel very grateful where I am now.”

Joining forces with the likes of Connor O’Toole, Junior Tafuna, Logan Fano and Keanu Tanuvasa, Utah coaches think this could be the deepest defensive line Utah has never had.

“I would say that’s accurate,” Fillinger said. “I think we got a lot of skill and talent. I think our returners have been doing this for a while, they know what they’re doing, and they’re only getting better. So I think that we have a really talented group this year.”

So are any wagers on who will end up with the most sacks this season?

“No, we haven’t yet, but so we could get some stakes going,” Fillinger said. “It sounds kind of fun.

And with high school football season set to start this week, Fillinger has been reminding all the local players which team won the 6A state championship last year, his Corner Canyon Chargers.

“Oh, you have no idea how much I say ‘CC’, Fillinger said. “Like every like every other day, but more like as a joke. But it’s funny stuff.”

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