MARYSVILLE — One of the questions surrounding the Tomahawks was cleared up on the first day of practice.

But while the Tomahawks know who will be on the team, that leaves a number of inquiries left unanswered for the 2010 season, starting with replacing the most dominant player in school history, fullback Austin Denton.

Denton rushed for a 2,055 yards and 26 touchdowns — both school records — last season.

“That’s a rarity,” said Marysville-Pilchuck coach Brandon Carson of having such a dominant runner. “And you really can’t replace a guy like Austin, but we’ve got guys that can fill in and we’ve lost a few guys that were irreplaceable from last year.”

The Tommies lost all but a pair of offensive and defensive starters from the 2009 team that finished 10-1 and won the school’s first state playoff game in 20 years, before eventually losing to Auburn 25-22 in the Class 4A playoffs.

“We set the bar pretty high last year, and we might have to do a couple things differently, but we’re going to go out and be another playoff team,” Carson said.

Returning from last year’s squad are lineman Zach Schumann, halfbacks Kyle Miller and Myles Tarran and linebacker Tyler Thompson.

But almost starting from scratch isn’t a new situation for the Tommies, who were in the same boat at the start of 2009, with just four returning starters.

“We’ve lost a lot of guys to graduation the last two years,” Carson said. “So this isn’t any different from last year.”

Of course, it is a little different, because not all the players absent from last years squad graduated. Five key defensive players transferred to Juanita in Kirkland. Twin brothers Siti and Suli Tamaiavena will join Jarett Finau, Ryley Caldwell and Dom Chadwick, leaving more holes than anticipated.

But Carson isn’t worried, as he credits his system as helping aid the turnover of high school football.

“The system we run is pretty simplistic,” he said. “It’s that way so that when the new guys come up, it’s not a foreign language to them.”

Obviously that was the case, as the Tommies haven’t lost a Wesco game in two years, and are looking to win a third consecutive conference title.

A mix of Miller, Tarran and Thompson will try to fill Denton’s shoes, while the quarterback spot Carson said won’t likely to be decided until a week before the season opens Sept. 3 at Jackson.

As far as the league goes, Carson named Lake Stevens, Arlington and Snohomish as being the stronger squads.

But while other schools are likely to have more starters coming back or more overall experience, most coaches would be envious of Marysville’s practice turnout, which took advantage of one last year with players that will become students at Marysville Getchell in 2011. The two schools combine for just under 100 kids, filling the practice field.

“I haven’t seen it like this,” said Carson. “But I like it. We’re turning this school into a football school.”