Starting Lineup: Gov. Mifflin’s Reese is the Hohl package
To recognize the top players in Berks football MikeDragoSports.com has selected the “Starting Lineup,” a preseason All-Berks team that includes the top linemen, backs, receivers, linebackers, and specialists.
Players were selected based on past performance, expected performance this season and college potential. Two-way players were given special consideration.
A college coach’s evaluation is included in each story.
One player will be introduced each day, in random order (the players are not ranked). This is the sixth installment of the series.
Reese Hohl, Gov. Mifflin
| 6-1 | 165 | Senior | RB/WR/CB/KR |
BACKSTORY: Reese Hohl opened his junior season with a bang, taking a kickoff 96 yards for a first-quarter touchdown. He found a seam, picked up some blocks, cut to the outside and was gone.
“It felt amazing,” he recalls.
Hohl’s joy in that season-opener was short-lived; Spring-Ford answered with five straight touchdowns and went on to beat Gov. Mifflin 49-19. The highlight-reel play meant little to Hohl in light of the outcome.
“We couldn’t build off that,” he says wistfully, looking back. “It felt really good (in the moment), but I like to focus on my team’s success, other than on me.”
There were many more highlights the rest of the way for Hohl; not so many for Mifflin. He’s hoping the latter part of that equation changes. He was an outfielder on the Mustangs’ PIAA championship baseball team in the spring and hopes to bring some of that energy to the football field.
“That really opened my eyes,” Hohl said of the state championship. “We were like a family; that was a big part of our (success). That’s what I want to see with the football team.”
If the Mustangs bounce back from consecutive losing seasons Hohl will be a big reason why. He’s a do-it-all player who will lead the way on offense, defense, special teams, you name it.
“Reese is the key to the whole operation,” said Mifflin coach Nick Morrissey.
Hohl was mostly a running back on offense as a junior but his role has expanded. He’ll be a tailback when the Mustangs are in the I-formation, a slot when they’re in their traditional Mid-Line Option. He could slide out to receiver. Or line up behind center as a Wildcat quarterback.
“He is gonna be all over the place,” Morrissey promised. “He’ll definitely be the centerpiece to our offense.”
The 6-1, 165-pound Hohl is so versatile the coaches in Section 2 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League didn’t quite know where to slot him on the all-league team so they tagged him as Athlete and put him on the first team.
If he had his druthers he’d play out in space, as a receiver, using his length and impressive ball skills to get free to snag the rock.
“You throw it up to him and he’s gonna go and get it,” Morrissey said.
Hohl displayed those same kind of open-space skills at cornerback. He went head-to-head against the league’s flashiest receivers, among them Manheim Central’s Aaron Enterline, and more than held his own. He picked off a pair of passes against Wilson, had a Berks-leading six picks overall, broke up seven other passes, and ended up with first-team all-league honors on defense, too.
“He’s a complete high school cornerback,” Morrissey said. “He’s capable of man-to-man or zone coverage. He doesn’t have top-end speed but he’s a ballhawk. There’s times he may be beat, or he may not be in the perfect coverage, but the kid has an understanding for finding the ball and going up, high-pointing a football. . . The kind of the things you really can’t teach, he has that.”
Hohl flashed those athletic skills as a sophomore. He was a true thorn in the side as a scout-team defender, breaking up plays and frustrating the first-team guys. His slight frame — he was barely over 140 pounds — kept him off the field on Friday nights, but he worked on that. He added weight and toughened up in the wrestling room.
Football’s always been his first love but he knew competing on the mat would benefit his No. 1 sport.
“Mentally and physically you’re getting tougher (as a wrestler),” he said. “That’s helped me.”
Hohl is still undersized compared to some of the league’s top players but that doesn’t deter him. He enjoys the physical part of the game as much as anyone, even if he’s giving up a few pounds.
“I want to come down, hit hard,” he said, “I’m able cover over top, stay on the guys I need. I want to be able to bring the fight to them, be able to hit low, be aggressive.”
His goal this season?
“I want to get a little meaner with that,” he said.
ROLE: Cornerback, tailback, slot receiver, Wildcat quarterback, kick returner.
COLLEGE PROSPECTS: Getting PSAC and Patriot League looks but no offers.
COACH’S TAKE: “Good feet, speed, and ball awareness as a defensive back. Has very good hand-eye coordination. A skilled offensive player with play-making ability with the ball in his hands.”
| Xavier Beatty | Reading High | WR/S/CB/KR | Sr. |
| Chase Eisenhower | Wyomissing | FB/LB | Jr. |
| Reese Hohl | Gov. Mifflin | RB/WR/CB/KR | Sr. |
| Evan Myers | Twin Valley | QB/DB | Sr. |
| Luke Spotts | Schuylkill Valley | TE/LB | Sr. |
| Logan Wegman | Exeter | T/DT | Sr. |
