Chris Festa is proud to confess he’s a full-fledged member of Holliston Panther nation.
But for 3 hours this weekend, his allegiance will likely be elsewhere.
His son Matt is a highly-touted quarterback for the undefeated Duxbury Dragons. Their opponent within the Div. 4 state semifinal contest is none apart from Holliston, who’s coached by his shut pal and highschool teammate, Todd Kiley. To add to the thrill, the beginning quarterback for the Panthers is TJ Kiley, the coach’s son.
“I bleed Holliston red and my love for Holliston runs deep, but of course, I am rooting for my son. I want to see him and his teammates complete the mission,” Festa stated. “Of course, I know I’ll never hear the end of it if Duxbury loses.”
Kiley and Festa each attended Holliston, the place Kiley was a yr forward of Festa. Their relationship continued into school the place each attended Westfield State and have been roommates. Festa performed baseball and Kiley was a quarterback on the soccer group.
“We were close friends going back to our high school days,” Kiley stated. “Chris is a great guy, we’ve stayed in touch through the years. We talk and text a few times a week and we still bust each other’s chops to this day. As soon as both of our teams won our last game, he was texting away at me.”
Kiley has consistently joked about his lack of top, however Festa insists anybody who underestimated Kiley did so at their very own peril.
“We had a lot of good athletes at our school and Todd was pound-for-pound as good as anyone,” Festa stated. “He’s 5-feet-nothing, 100 pounds or so and he was just a tremendous athlete. He was a starter on the football team, a captain on the tennis team who quit to play baseball and was a very good shortstop on a good team.”
The two weren’t precisely shrinking violets. Both take nice enjoyment of speaking about their highway journey to South Bend to soak up the 1993 BC-Notre Dame soccer sport, one which resulted in David Gordon’s 41-yard area purpose to offer the Eagles a 41-39 win over the top-ranked Irish.
“My brother David was out there and he called to tell me that he had tickets to the game,” Kiley stated. “Chris and I were BC fans, so we decided to go out there, but we didn’t have any money, so we decided to hitch hike out there, something I wouldn’t do or recommend anyone do today. We wound up getting a ride from a couple from Maine and they happened to be going past there.”
Festa stated it was a reminiscence he’ll always remember.
“We didn’t have two nickels to run together, so we went to the Mass Pike with signs that said Notre Dame Or Bust. The couple from Maine picked us up. After a few hours, they were sleeping and we were driving their car out there. It was a great weekend,” Festa stated.
Through the years, each adopted the procession of their sons. Much like his dad, TJ Kiley is a 5-foot-7 quarterback who has led a high-powered Holliston group to a 9-1 file. Festa says watching TJ is rather like watching Todd play soccer in his days.
Matt Festa was a ok pitching prospect to earn a baseball scholarship to Maryland as a sophomore, however he has decommitted to deal with his real love for soccer. As a lot as Kiley loves seeing Festa do properly, he is aware of it can imply loads of sleepless nights for him this week.
“Matt is legit. As far as I am concerned, he’s clearly the best quarterback in the state,” Kiley stated. “He’s a dual threat, he can run and he’s got a great arm. I’m shocked that he does not have an offer right now – they are missing the boat on this kid.”
Whatever occurs this weekend stays to be seen. What is definite is that there will likely be some Holliston blood within the Div. 4 Super Bowl, come what may.
Source: www.bostonherald.com