Wednesday night, at the same time his Serra classmates were in the process of defeating St. Ignatius in basketball at the annual Jungle Game, Serra student Reno Anoa'i was making news of his own.
The American Idol episode featuring the San Francisco audition was shown on FOX and Anoa'i received "yes" votes from Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban for his stirring performance.
Anoa'i, a Serra football player from Daly City, sang Rod Stewart's "I Don't Want to Talk About It" with what he called an "island vibe" as he strummed a ukele while performing at the St. Francis Westin Hotel.
Hollywood is next for the 11th-grade Padre offensive lineman.
"I've gotten great feedback and a lot of positive love and support at school and from my family and all around the world, including social media," Anoa'i said.
The standout football player missed two football games last fall due to American Idol obligations as the Serra football team marched to a second consecutive WCAL co-title.
The 6-foot, 249-pounder said he received about 1,000 tweets after his performance due to his appearance on TV and mention on the American Idol Twitter account.
One young lady named Valeria who has the handle @kalifornia_vibe said: "@RenoAnoai just marry me. Loved his audition."
Tweeted Nina who goes by @ninacollette: "@RenoAnoa amazing beautiful voice. So touched. You are a star in my eyes."
The response at Serra, obviously, was positive.
"Everybody said 'Great job. Way to represent.'" Anoa'i said. "People were happy. Nobody at Serra has done anything like this before so there's been a real positive vibe from the Padre family."
Anoa'i, 16, has become a sensation in recent weeks and has appeared on a local network news show and Wild 94.9 radio. The momentum should only build as he marches toward filming of the show in Hollywood.
Said Serra football coach Patrick Walsh who let Anoa'i miss practices and games against Mitty and Sacred Heart Cathedral to pursue his dream: "Everyone is so pumped. It's really cool to have someone from the Serra family do this. Reno's brother, of course (Hamilton, of the Cal football team) played for us and some of his cousins played for us as well."
Added Walsh: "He's getting a lot of love and support at school. It's pretty great to have a Serra Padre on a national stage like this in the same week that (Serra grad) Tom Brady is playing in the Super Bowl. Everyone is thrilled about it and having American Idol viewing parties and stuff. It's awesome."
Anoa'i began singing at age 3, but has mainly just performed in church until his sister Heavenley, coaxed him to go to an American Idol audtion at Daly City's Cow Palace.
In addition to singing, he plays numerous musical instruments and writes his own songs.
"I feel good and very blessed," he said. "It's a gift from God. And both sides of my family are musically talented."
