SV grad Holl heroic in defeat

ERIE — “This one hurts.”

Such was Seneca Valley graduate and Mercyhurst University senior inside linebacker Jacob Holl's synopsis of the Lakers' 20-17 home football loss to 17th-ranked Slippery Rock Saturday.

Holl couldn't even stand facing the scoreboard while chatting on the field after the game.

“It's making me sick,” he said.

Understandably.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Holl had just played perhaps the best college football game of his career. He tallied 19 tackles, three tackles for loss, two quarterback sacks and forced two fumbles.

“Jacob Holl plays hard and he plays with passion,” Mercyhurst coach Marty Schaetzle said. “That guy was all over the field today.”

Always fueled for gameday, Holl was particularly geared up for this game. Not only was it against a traditional PSAC power in SRU, it was being played on a rainy day on a wet field.

“I knew the ball was going to be wet,” Holl said, grinning. “I told our defensive coordinator before the game, I was going for the strips today. I knew I'd be able to strip the ball away and it happened a few times.”

Holl has 77 tackles on the season, easily leading the team. Fellow inside linebacker Thomas Zacharyasz is second with 59 tackles.

Since recording four tackles in the season opener against Alderson Broaddus, Holl has been first or second on the team in tackles in every game since.

“Thomas is my best friend on the team and we have a friendly rivalry going on every game as to who's going to get the most tackles,” Holl said. “No. 1, it's about the team. No. 2, it's me vs. him. It motivates both of us.

“The ball carriers were bouncing my way today.”

Holl has two older brothers — T.J. and Donny — who also played college football. Donny Holl played at Mercyhurst and scored a touchdown against The Rock at the University of Michigan's “Big House” in 2014.

“I was hoping a touchdown would somehow find me today. It didn't happen,” Holl said.

“Donny came up here as a quarterback. He wound up being moved to tight end-fullback and had a great career here. I came up here to a lot of his games and it became like a second home to me.

“Donny talked to me about Mercyhurst, about the kind of man the school and football program would turn me into, the kind of man you want to become. He sold me on it,” Holl added.

Schaetzle is retiring after this season. After 20 years as head coach, he will be replaced by current assistant head coach Ryan Riemedio.

“One of the pluses I've had during my time here is the ability to recruit families, to get brothers to play for us,” Schaetzle said. “The Holls have given so much to this program.

“Football is in their blood. It's always gonna be there.”

Holl agrees.

Carrying a double major in business management and sports business, he is seeking a career in the sports industry.

“My dad (Don Holl) is a coach (at Gateway High School) and my brother is on his staff there now,” Holl said. “I know I want to get into coaching. Football is in my veins and it's never coming out.

“It's been there since I was 6 years old and a ballboy at Gannon University and Cathedral Prep games when my dad was coaching there.”

Holl has another year of football eligibility at Mercyhurst. He is unsure whether he's taking it.

“I just don't know right now,” he said. “I know the coaches want me back, my teammates ... This team is ready to turn the corner and be a contender.”

The Lakers are 2-6 this season with three games remaining.

“I'm setting up job interviews, looking at life that way, too,” Holl said. “Whether I return or not, Mercyhurst football is in good hands.”