High school football is back! ABC13 talks with top Houston-area players ahead of new season

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- For Houston-area high school football players, there is no off-season.

"I love putting in the work trying to better myself and put myself at the top," Manvel High School safety Ju'Von Smith said.

"I do football five times a week, and on Saturday and Sunday I either lift or run the lake," C.E. King receiver Amado Jacobs Jr. said.

Athletes all over the city are staying ready so they don't need to get ready when the season starts this week.

"It's 24/7; this is my life," Mayde Creek cornerback Jaidun James said. "So besides God, this is all I do."

"I go to a speed trainer, a strength coach as well, and also just schoolwork," Ridge Point quarterback Brody Bartee said. "I've been doing summer school so I can graduate early for next year."

Bartee is one of many top Houston-area quarterbacks working hard at JP Tillman's Dot's and Dimes Camp. Tillman starts the quarterbacks' journey at a young age and stresses not just mechanics, but mindset.

"When you make a bad play, your teammates look at you to see how you hold yourself," Grand Oaks quarterback Harley Adams said. "You want to keep your head high."

"You can have a bad drive or a bad series or throw a pick, but you got to be able to clear it and be able to go on to the next series," Columbus quarterback David James said.

Barbers Hill quarterback Luke Babin added what he feels is one of the most important qualities of a quarterback. "Make the people around you better players. I'd say honesty is the best quality because there's only so much a quarterback can do," he said.

Andre Phillip II of Klein Oak is a player to keep an eye on this season.

Phillip II scored seven touchdowns in a game last season and plans to attend West Virginia University.

Phillip II takes the field with the confidence, talent, and mindset of a winner. "Not to have a big ego, but when I step on the field I know I'm the best on the field and trusting the work that I put in and trust in every play the coach calls and try to score a touchdown off it," he said.

Jalil Johnson was a no-star high school player who played at Jackson State before playing in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. "If you dedicate yourself to the grind, your life will change," he said.

Johnson is now pouring his efforts into making Houston-area defensive backs the best they can be. "Every time I come out here, I get, you know, the best of the best and it helps me elevate my game," Cy Ranch sophomore safety Antonio Murray II said.

"You can just bank on getting better," Clear Lake cornerback TJ Stinson said. "There's a lot of athletes around you that have the same goal in mind, " the C.E. King Freshman cornerback is laying the foundation now to compete not only this year, but for years to come. "Me competing against older guys, seeing what they could do, just putting it in my game so I can be a better player," he said.

Alief Taylor grad Jaden Newsome hosted his annual Elite 50 camp in the summer.

The Cabarrus brothers from Woodlands College Park are getting secondary training to help the Cavaliers build on their historic season from a year ago.

"We're going to be a good group as long as you stay together," older brother James said.

"We're building on things. I think we will have a successful year," said Josiah, the younger of the brothers.

Josiah loves playing on the field with his brother, but sees all his teammates as brothers. "We get to make calls to each other, and just having someone behind me that I can really trust," he said. "But that's all my teammates; I can trust all my teammates. I can look behind me and say, ' That's my brother, that's my brother."