Trevor Hohlt turned 22 early last month, but the birthday didn’t get off to the start the Ball State football player envisioned.
Due to concerns associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Mid-American Conference announced on Aug. 8 it was canceling all scheduled fall sports contests, as well as MAC championships.
Hohlt, a redshirt junior receiver, clings to the hope he and his teammates can play meaningful games in the spring. It’s what drives him while continuing to take part in weightlifting and conditioning drills preparing for the next time the Cardinals compete against an actual opponent.
“I’m definitely still motivated. You want to stay ready, so I attack each lifting and running session to stay ready for the season whenever it is,” said Hohlt, who played in 10 of Ball State’s 12 games last season, primarily on special teams.
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“I’ve heard talk about the possibility of a spring season, but that’s probably subject to change. Basically, for the past 14 or 15 years I’ve been playing football in the fall. It kind of takes a toll on your mental state because it’s such an uncertain time.”
Hohlt is one of three Johnson County residents on Ball State’s football roster, along with sophomore inside linebacker Clayton Coll (Franklin) and redshirt freshman defensive lineman John Harris (Roncalli).
Coll contributed as a true freshman in 2019 with 18 tackles overall; Harris played in a 52-14 victory over Toledo, but ended up redshirting.
The unusual circumstances are allowing those players time to focus on improving themselves physically, academically and schematically. Like Hohlt, Coll and Harris grew up playing football this time of year, not juggling the what-ifs associated with a global pandemic.
“It’s kind of crazy, this being the first fall I haven’t played football since about the time I was born,” Coll said. “Some guys went home to be with family. Others have stayed here on campus. With this team being close and our seniors being great leaders, this team is about family and culture.
“There are just so many unknowns. The hardest part for me is that we’re so used to having a schedule, and being thrown into this has been weird.”
The first part of the Cardinals’ schedule was particularly enticing to Coll.
After hosting Maine on Sept. 3, Ball State was to travel to Michigan’s legendary Big House, capacity 107,601, and to Indiana before returning to Muncie to face Wyoming.
Harris, who used his redshirt season to transform his 6-foot-2, 268-pound body in the weight room, is from Greenwood. A three-year letterman for Roncalli, he also looked forward to the opportunity of playing a more significant role for the Ball State defense.
At the same time, the limited spring football season the Ball State players experienced showed Harris where he needed to get better.
“Going into my freshman year, I worked just as hard as I have going into my redshirt freshman season,” Harris said. “Ball State went through two or three days of camp, and in that time I realized what I needed to work on, which is strengthening my shoulders.”
No timetable for a decision regarding a possible spring football season has been made. However, Ball State will, in conjunction with the MAC, explore possibilities for the spring semester.
In the meantime, Hohlt, Coll and Harris lift, run, study — and, yes, hope.
