prep talk

With Temecula Valley off to a 6-0 start in high school football, the Golden Bears can thank senior kicker and punter Colin Elia for making major contributions.

He’s 13 for 13 on PATs and six for seven on field goals, including a long of 49 yards, and averaging more than 36 yards on punts.

He didn’t play football until his sophomore year when friends asked him to join the team. He finally convinced his parents to let him play. Let’s say it was a compromise. He wanted to play receiver. He got permission to be the kicker.

The rest is history.

“I’m joking with my mom she’s happy to let me play now,” Elia said.

He made a game-winning field goal as a sophomore on varsity when the other kickers were unavailable. Last season as a junior, he made 10 of 11 field-goal attempts. He continues to improve as he uses his soccer background.

One thing is certain: Pressure moments don’t bother him. In fact, he looks forward to them.

He also credits his long snapper and holder for helping him succeed.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

San Marino High first-year football coach Dujuawn “DJ” Jones got smart when he took over the program, searching for the best athletes on campus and getting their friends on the football team to lobby for them to come out.

What’s happened this season is pretty extraordinary. Aided by nearly a dozen baseball players, San Marino’s football team is off to a 6-0 start. The quarterback, Parker Wilson, is the starting catcher for the baseball team. There are also wrestlers, basketball players and track athletes on the team.

The joke is whether the majority of players are talking about the Dodgers or the Rams during practices.

“We try to do some of the teachings more like in baseball terms,” Jones said. “We want our kids to play other sports.”

There are lots of baseball players around the Southland having big seasons playing football, from Capistrano Valley quarterback Talon Spencer to Corona del Mar receiver JJ Haley to Hart running back Matix Frithsmith to La Canada quarterback Joe Bell to Palos Verdes running back Christian Weis.

The only question left to ask regarding San Marino is how many of the football players are visiting the batting cage before practice?

“Right now they’re not missing too much,” Jones said.

If only the baseball players playing the sport 365 days a year knew what fun they are missing out on.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

The Corona Centennial High football team has an interesting blend of players spelling their similar first names differently, leaving coach Matt Logan to be the referee as to which parents got the spelling correct.

There’s Jaden Jefferson, Jaden Walk-Green, Jaden Bynum, Jayden Steeber, Jayden Rodriguez and Jaiden Sapp on varsity.

Asked for a comment on what the correct spelling should be, Logan replied, “Which one?”

With six player possibilities, he better be specific as to which Jaden, Jayden or Jaiden he’s trying to alert when shouting the name.

Luckily, Logan isn’t the freshman or JV coach because there’s also Jayden Morales, Jayden Bullard and Jaidon Wilkerson. That’s nine players who qualify to join a club or create a T-shirt: Which first name is spelled correctly?

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Calabasas baseball coach Thomas Cassidy might be feeling a little pressure over the next two seasons considering he has one junior pitcher, Jayden Singer, committed to USC, and another junior pitcher, Cash Wiltgen, committed to Stanford.

That’s an impressive duo to build a team around. Now all Cassidy has to do is find fielders to catch the ball and hitters to drive in runs.

In truth, Cassidy is excited about both pitchers. Singer has been a standout since his freshman season at Calabasas. Wiltgen arrived from Sierra Canyon, had to sit out the first part of last season and battled back from an injury. He only pitched one inning but had a good summer.

“I’m happy for those guys,” Cassidy said. “It’s awesome to have those guys. It’s a great position to put themselves in.”

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Coach DJ Gay started 120 games during his playing days at San Diego State, so when his star guard at Windward High, Davey Harris, announced he had committed to San Diego State, Gay couldn’t have been more pleased.

“That’s the least I could do for everything the school has done for me,” Gay said. “I think San Diego State is going to be a great place playing in the new Pac-12.”

Harris has grown to 6 feet 6 and is only scratching the surface of his ability because he missed his first two years of high school with an injury.

“I truly believe the sky is the limit,” Gay said.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

If ABC brought back the TV show “Superstars” that featured top athletes competing in various events, then a trip to Corona del Mar High would be a must, because the Sea Kings have top multiple-sport athletes competing every day.

The football team is 5-0 thanks to a trio of athletes who are still learning what their best sport is.

Nolan Scott, left, scored the winning basket and his brother, Maxwell, scored 35 points in Corona del Mar’s basketball team’s 78-77 win over Los Alamitos.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Nolan Scott is a 6-foot-4 tight end and linebacker who can dunk and plays basketball with his Harvard-bound brother, Maxwell.

Tucker Murray is a safety, receiver and punt returner who’s committed to Princeton to play both football and lacrosse.

Corona del Mar High’s JJ Haley (3) comes up smiling with teammate Max Brengel after both scoring two runs during the Battle of the Bay baseball game against Newport Harbor last season.

(Don Leach / Daily Pilot)

JJ Haley is a receiver and center fielder for the baseball team who could play both sports in college.

That kind of versatility and ability to handle pressure is seen every week in football.

For them to keep playing more than one sport instead of focusing on a single sport shows their commitment and belief you can do both and be good in both while having fun with friends.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Huntington Beach High started the football season 4-0. The Oilers have Ohio State-bound Brady Edmunds at quarterback in his fourth season as a starter, and rapidly developing receiver Dylin Bruce, who has committed to Arizona State.

That alone should get the Oilers attention, but their 29-25 win over unbeaten Yorba Linda on Friday night deserves special attention. Yorba Linda was 4-0 and perhaps the best opponent on the Oilers’ schedule. By winning, Huntington Beach showed it’s ready for top 25 consideration in the Southland. It’s the first time since 1998 that the Oilers started 5-0.

There’s still the new Delta League opponents, including Dana Hills and Laguna Beach to face in the coming weeks, but second-year Huntington Beach coach Matthew Hatchette deserves kudos for the progress being made in the program.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High has been known for years as the school for kickers, with the likes of kicking guru Chris Sailer and NFL kickers Nick Folk and Kai Forbath among a long list of standouts.

Notre Dame coach Evan Yabu has been keeping a secret weapon hidden for two years. Charles Szares made a 49-yard field goal for the freshman team in 2024. He was the backup on varsity last season, getting to do one kickoff.

This season as a junior, he has burst onto the scene as a varsity starter. After four games, he is perfect on PATs (23 for 23), perfect on field goals (six for six) and on Friday he was perfect on kicking the ball into the end zone (eight for eight on touchbacks). He also punts.

“I’m not kidding — this is the best kicker/punter I’ve seen,” Yabu said.

Szares has been playing soccer all his life and continues to play for a club team and Notre Dame football.

He started kicking by accident in eighth grade. He was a receiver and a youth football coach saw him fooling around kicking at a flag football game.

“You want to join the team?” the coach asked.

Said Szares: “I’ve had a love and passion ever since.”

Szares knows about Notre Dame’s kicking tradition from looking at the alumni board of top football players in the gym. And Sailer trains him. “He’s outstanding,” Sailer said.

He still hasn’t gotten the opportunity to try a possible game-winning field goal this season, though he made a 45-yard field goal on Friday in a win over Oaks Christian.

“I handle pressure pretty well,” he said. “I’m more confident under pressure oddly.”

He also thanks his long snapper, John Henry Mason, and holder, Levi Gonzaga.

And just remember, he has two seasons to go after the Notre Dame kicking records.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

It’s a day and night to celebrate women in sports.

MaxPreps is hosting an 18-team flag football tournament in San Diego. No. 1 JSerra is competing.

In the evening, Nike has flown in a custom-made outdoor volleyball court so Sherman Oaks Notre Dame can host Harvard-Westlake in a 7 p.m. girls’ volleyball match played on the Notre Dame baseball field. There will be food trucks, music and other surprises.

There’s also the Venice girls volleyball tournament taking place at Venice High and the Woodbridge Classic cross-country meet at the Great Park in Irvine.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.