BLOG 39: Hollandsworth: Good competition, tough camp have paid off

By Sandy Gholston

Ferris State football player Jeff Hollandsworth hangs onto the ball during a drill in the preseason (Photo/Sandy Gholston)

BIG RAPIDS – Jeff Hollandsworth, already a hard worker by nature, endured a rigorous preseason training camp in Big Rapids with his teammates.

Hollandsworth, one of Ferris State University’s senior linebackers, is hoping for big things as the team continues to push toward big things. The 6-foot, 235-pound Livonia native, whose father played football at Central Michigan (1976-79), knows what it takes to be successful on the gridiron. A lunch-pail kind of guy, Hollandsworth simply rolled up his sleeves and went to work with the rest of his Bulldog brothers. That hard work has paid off in the form of a 3-1 record through the first four games. So, now is not the time to turn back.

“I think the competition was real good for us and the fact we have a lot of experience on our defense has really helped us all to push each other to work hard and to continue to get better with each game,” said Hollandsworth, a marketing major and All-Academic Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team honoree who has been a starter throughout his college football career. “We’ve had good tempo in practices and that has made everyone have to work that much harder to keep up.”

Now that the season is underway the Bulldogs have to continue to keep up the good work to remain in contention for a league championship or the playoffs. Hollandsworth figures to be a big part of that effort. Through four games, he has 12 solo tackles and 13 tackle assists for a total of 25. Hollandsworth also has two tackles for loss as part of a Ferris defense that has risen to the occasion this fall. He is part of a strong group of senior linebackers includes Kevin Noe and Jordan Moore. Noe leads Ferris with 41 total tackles, four tackles for loss and half a sack. Moore ranks second on the squad in tackles with 36 and also has 5.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

The linebackers have persevered through thick and thin during their Bulldog careers.

Said Noe, of the friendship and bond shared by the linebackers, “We feel pretty good about playing together as a group. We’re a group that started out playing together when we first got here, when we were young, we got a lot of experience and now it feels good the way things are beginning to come together for us. It’s an exciting feeling right now to see how we’ve been able to develop and improve, together, as a team.”

If you have any questions, ideas or comments feel free to contact Sandy Gholston at sgholston2@netzero.com