The school record for most touchdowns seemed untouchable for over two decades, but on October 5th it finally happened. Luke Festa, a senior varsity football player at Hills, scored five touchdowns in one football game, tying with the original record. This historic day in Indian Hills football started relatively ordinary according to Luke Festa, except that this game was his senior night. “I anticipated this game to be a little different because I really wanted to have a strong senior night that I could remember,” Luke explains, “and I wanted to play well in front of all my family and friends that came to watch me play. This made me a little nervous during the week before the game, as all I wanted to do was to just play.”
When Luke played at the game and scored his first touchdown, he reported that he could feel the change in his performance. “After I scored the first time, I just began to be really confident and it felt like everything I did was involuntary like I was on autopilot. It just felt like every time I got the ball I could make a big play.” Luke continued to play, and with every play, electricity shot through the crowd. As Festa was on his fourth touchdown, his coach informed him that he was about to reach the school record. However, Festa was running out of time: “My coach told me that I needed one more to get it, and I was worried that there wasn’t enough time left in the game.”
But, as many know, Luke did make the final touchdown. The crowd was filled with excitement as Indian Hills was far ahead of their opponents. Yet as Festa explains, he didn’t feel excited, but relieved. “I was just happy that I could break it in front of my family, and was relieved.”
Festa also gives credit to his teammates’ performances: “I felt that it would help continue to give me confidence week in and week out that the hard work we have put in since June is paying off and our team is very capable of accomplishing big things. This record wasn’t just my doing, but with the help of my whole team that helped make it possible–especially my quarterback and offensive line.”
Since Indian Hills has won enough games, the team is advancing in their season. However, this leaves a question: what can be expected from the Hills football team going forward? Festa has this to say: “I think we will have a better season than the last because our brotherhood has become very strong and we keep improving week in and week out with our confidence and skill sets.”
Festa played an amazing game and left the entire school in excitement, but Festa’s record-breaking game was far from his last.