Prep football: Mission Prep’s secret weapon — kicker Kyle Continente

Mission Prep senior Kyle Continente has been kicking soccer balls since he was 4 years old, but it wasn’t until his freshman year that he tried kicking a football. Right away his father saw his potential.

“His dad called me and said, ‘You know, this guy has a really special leg,’ ” Mission Prep head coach Chad Henry said. “He came out for P.E., and we were kicking field goals, and he was booting the ball from like 45 yards.”

“Kyle, you can kick,” Henry said, recalling what he told Continente.

Continente responded sheepishly: “Yeah, I know.”

Eventually he earned the nickname “The Mule.”

“Because he kicks the (s---) out of the ball,” Henry said with a laugh.

Since then, Continente has slowly developed into a powerful special teams weapon for Mission Prep, kicking field goals, kickoffs and punts.

“I have improved a huge amount,” Continente said. “I didn’t know what I was doing before. I was just kicking a ball. Going to camps, I actually got the form down.”

In January — at one of the top kicker camps in the nation held in Las Vegas — Continente finished in the top 10 out of 300 kickers when he hit 5 of 5 from 50 yards in the final part of the competition.

He also earned a spot on the Los Angeles Times’ list of the top high school kickers in the CIF-Southern Section.

In Mission Prep’s first home game of the season against Viewpoint, Continente hit a 45-yard field goal, the longest Henry had seen in his time as head coach.

“This year, he has become more accurate,” Henry said. “The last two years he would kick a 50-yarder through the uprights and then miss the next one 10 yards outside the hash mark. But this year he has been a lot more consistent. Right now, we just want to have more opportunities for him to kick the ball.”

Continente, who also plays on the Royals soccer team, missed his only other attempt this season, a 44-yarder, but he is a perfect 15-of-15 on extra points. The 6-foot-2, 160-pound senior said his long in practice is 55 yards, and in a game he feels confident anywhere from 53 yards and closer.

“I know I can do it,” Continente. “I just need an opportunity.”

Henry said not only has Continente developed as a kicker, but he’s evolved from a quiet freshman to one of the more likeable members of the team. Every time he trots out to the field to kick, the entire Royals team chants “D-one, D-one,” a reference to his potential and dream of playing college football. Continente said he will send out his kicking highlight reel to colleges all over the country soon.

“I’ve got interest from some DIII schools, but obviously the dream is to go DI,” Continente said.

Mission Prep will look to their secret weapon as it enters Northern League play beginning with Friday’s game against Santa Maria. Continente knows during league play, the games will be tighter, making the possibility of a game-winning field goal chance that much greater.

“I’m ready,” Continente said of the chance to hit a game-winner. “I can’t wait for that. That would be so much fun for me.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Prep football: Mission Prep’s secret weapon — kicker Kyle Continente."