Santa Barbara High quarterback Deacon Hill has been selected to play in the 2021 Polynesian Bowl All-Star Football Game in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The game brings together 100 of the top prep football players from around the country, American Samoa and the independent nation of Samoa at Aloha Stadium in January. The goal of the event is to teach and promote the Polynesian culture.
For Hill, who is of Samoan descent, the invitation to play in the game is a thrill.
“This mean a lot to me and my family because it’s a tremendous honor to be able to play in this game, and I have a ton of family out there and I’m really excited to see everyone,” he said.
Hill will be the second area athlete to play in the game. Lompoc standout running back / linebacker Toa Taua played in the 2018 Polynesian Bowl before moving on to the University of Nevada.
The game has featured several future college stars. Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who is expected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, played in the 2017 game.
Hill is coming off a tremendous junior season at Santa Barbara High. After making an early verbal commitment to the University of Wisconsin, he led the Dons to an unbeaten Channel League championship and a CIF-SS title game appearance, the program’s first in 30 years.
He passed for 3,009 yards and 35 touchdowns in 14 games. In Santa Barbara’s CIF-SS Division 8 playoff run, he threw for 1,074 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed for three scores.
“Deacon is the heart and soul of our football team,” said Santa Barbara coach J.T. Stone.
With the football team unable to get together for spring workouts due to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, Hill said he’s been training on his own.
“I have just been doing body weight and a lot of cardio,” he said. “I was throwing right at the beginning but as it got worse I’ve just been doing stuff by myself.”
As for finishing up the semester, he said the online classes “are not bad, they are just different. It’s a lot different than having that interaction in person every day with your teachers.”