Prep talk: Loyola’s Kane Casani is doing his best to make his head coach dad proud

It’s not always easy being the son of the head football coach. You get to experience the highs and lows of a season with teammates knowing your Dad is held accountable for the good and bad.

Kane Casani, the son of Loyola head coach Drew Casani, did plenty on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium to make his father proud and change the fortunes of the Cubs. He blocked a field-goal attempt that led to a touchdown, picked up yards for a huge first down and made plenty of tackles in a 13-10 Mission League victory over Gardena Serra.

Afterward, as Drew addressed the team in the middle of SoFi Stadium, Kane looked on as just another player. But when you’re so close to the head coach, you feel his emotions. And Drew has had plenty, trying to help a team that’s needed to rely on new players.

So far, so good. The Cubs are 4-3 and 1-1 in a Mission League that appears to have a wide-open competition for second and third behind unbeaten Sierra Canyon. There’s four teams with 1-1 league records and Serra (0-2) still figures to be in the mix before the season ends.

Next up for Loyola is a key game against visiting Bishop Amat on Friday.

Kane leads the team in tackles with 75. His 11-year-old brother, who watched the game from SoFi Stadium, certainly was inspired to one day take his place on the football field.

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