Jovan Hollis won’t mind if basketball season starts without him
His teammates at Antietam may miss him but Jovan Hollis isn’t thinking about basketball right now. He’s focused on playing with his football teammates at Exeter and advancing to a state championship game.
“This season’s been so special I haven’t really been thinking about basketball lately,” said Hollis, a junior linebacker on Exeter’s District 3 Class 5A championship team.
Hollis attends school at Antietam and plays basketball for the Mounts. In the fall he has different teammates, and he’s hoping to keep playing with them for as long as possible. The Eagles (10-3) face District 7 champ Penn-Trafford (10-2) Friday at 7 at Bald Eagle High School in the GoBigRecruiting.com Game of the Week. The winner advances to the PIAA championship one week later.
An Eagles victory means Hollis likely will miss the Mounts’ basketball opener against Halifax, which is scheduled the day after the PIAA championship game.
Basketball practice began last week. The 6-4, 205-pound Hollis figures to be a big piece on an Antietam team that will enter the season as the favorite in Berks IV and a contender for the District 3 Class 2A title.
He and Messiah Robinson, a junior running back with the Eagles who plays point guard for the Mounts, will be behind once they switch seasons, but that’s not a concern right now.
“Hopefully we’ll be (practicing) here (again next week),” Hollis said. “I really feel like we can get this win on Friday. We’ve been working hard all week. I have a lot of trust in our guys.”
The Eagles are coming off their first District 3 championship and are one win away from matching the program record of 11, set in 2015.
Hollis is not worried about being behind once he switches seasons.
“I feel once I get back into it I’ll enjoy it,” he said. “We have a lot of potential there, too.”
Colin Payne, Joey Schlaffer and Anthony Caccese are in the same situation for Exeter. They’ll play key roles for the Eagles in basketball, just as they do in football, where Payne plays quarterback, Schlaffer is a receiver and Caccese an offensive tackle.
Exeter’s basketball opener is scheduled for Dec. 10, against Cedar Crest. If Payne, Schlaffer and Caccese — three-fifths of the basketball starting lineup — are still playing football that opener could be postponed.
Hollis is one of four Antietam students on the Exeter football team, along with junior linemen Kyle Lash and Jameare Frederick, and Robinson.
Antietam students are allowed to play for Exeter’s football team via a PIAA cooperative sponsorship agreement; Antietam doesn’t sponsor football, and its school district is contiguous with Exeter’s, making it eligible. Oley Valley, which does not sponsor football, has the same agreement with Fleetwood, as does Brandywine Heights with Kutztown.
Hollis said it’s a bit usual playing for another school. It was awkward at first when he didn’t know most of the Exeter players. He’s been part of the Eagles’ program since eighth grade and last year earned a starting spot at linebacker.
He’s part of arguably the best linebacker group in the county, playing alongside Berks Linebacker of the Year Ty Yocum and all-league picks J.R. Strauss and Lucas Palange (Palange was picked as a defensive lineman but alternates between the line and linebacker, depending on Exeter’s defensive front).
“They’ve been here doing it for a while,” he said of Yocum and Strauss, each a three-year starter. “I learn from them a lot.”
Hollis has 31 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble.
He played a big role last season in helping Antietam reach the District 3 Class 2A championship game; right now basketball isn’t on the radar. He’s enjoying football too much. He’ll enjoy basketball soon enough.
“It’s always different, every season,” he said. “When it’s basketball (season), I enjoy basketball more; when it’s football (season) I enjoy football. Right now I’ve grown a lot of love for football. This season really changed my mindset on it a lot.”
