Family Ties

With each passing game, Edison High’s Seth Prelesnik continues to

build upon a school record he already owns.

The 6-foot, 200 senior inside linebacker established Edison’s career

tackles record in the ninth game of the 1999 season, 20 years after Bill

Malavasi (223 tackles) set the standard. In three games this year,

Prelesnik, in his third year playing varsity football, has 37 tackles,

which gives him a running count of 279.

What’s more, the two-time All-Sunset League selection caught his first

varsity touchdown pass during last week’s 42-21 win over Dana Hills.

That, in addition to his team-high 15 tackles.

The numbers are great, Prelesnik says, but what gives him the most

satisfaction is that his family is on hand to see his performances.

“They’re my No. 1 fans,” Prelesnik said of his parents, Roger and

Carin, and his siblings, Rachel, Erika, and Caleb, all Edison High

graduates. “It’s a thrill to be able to play in front of them.”

Prelesnik has been around Edison football “for as long as I can

remember.” His father, Roger, has taught math at the school since it

opened its doors in 1969. The family ties also run deeper: Prelesnik’s

grandparents, Oscar and Herta Backlund, owned and operated the Villa

Sweden restaurant on Main Street from 1961, until it closed in 1987. The

restaurant had been the site of various football team dinners for both

Edison and Huntington Beach.

It was there that Roger Prelesnik met his future wife, the former

Carin Backlund, a Huntington Beach High graduate.

“My mom tells us that she and my dad would go on a date to Edison

games, and if they’d lose, my dad would be in a bad mood until the next

game,” said Prelesnik, who is being recruited by Cal and a few Western

Athletic Conference schools. “It’s funny that they’re still in the stands

after all these years later. I guess it’s come full circle.”