Even at an early age, Luke Hansen knew he had the potential to be a special player.
“I started playing tackle football when I was about nine years old,” recalled the Indianapolis Roncalli senior running back. “I was always pretty good, but nothing crazy.”
The 6-foot, 205-pound standout’s confidence has been at an all-time high to this point as he has carried the ball an amazing 272 times for a state-leading 2,117 yards with 25 touchdowns.
He also has eight receptions for 95 yards with two scores for the Royals (7-1), who just saw their 22-game regular season winning streak snapped on October 7 with a 24-23 loss to Cincinnati Elder (Ohio).
It wasn’t because of a lack of effort from Hansen, who surpassed the 200-yard plateau for the seventh time in eight contests with 34 rushes for 221 yards and one score.
After being the second option behind graduated all-state quarterback Aidan Leffler, who played a big part in helping Roncalli to the 2020 Class 4A state championship, Hansen has made the most of his chance to be the main man now.
“Last year just added more motivation for me,” recalled Hansen about losing to eventual state champion Mount Vernon (Fortville), 27-21, in the Class 4A regional final. “I think it has driven the whole team to want it more this season. Our whole team has been training since summer, so when the season came, we were all ready to go.”
After not getting the chance to dress for the state championship game against Hobart as a sophomore because of Covid-19, Hansen showed he was worthy of getting considerable playing time last fall by accumulating 181 carries for 1,411 yards with 16 touchdowns and 22 catches for 233 yards with four scores.
This good fortune carried over into this year’s season-opening 46-7 win at Southport on August 19 where he established a new school record with 335 yards on 26 carries, good for five touchdowns.
Then, on September 9 in a 38-17 triumph at Columbus North, he rolled up a program-best 373 total yards with five more scores.