2024 Prep Football Previews: Holmes hopes to rebound from winless season with team built around returning linemen

By Jake Dickman
NKyTribune sports reporter

After going winless last season, Holmes football players want to put the past behind them. To do that, coach Ben Nevels wants them to keep one thing in mind.

“One of our sayings that I use all the time is, ‘Play fast, but not in a hurry,’” said Nevels, who’s entering his 11th season with the program.

A more disciplined mindset might be what the Bulldogs need after last season when they scored only four touchdowns and committed 16 turnovers in their 10 losses. The offense ended up averaging just 116 yards per game.

Holmes returns only four starters from last season. Three of them are seniors Quincy Huling and Trenton Addison and junior RaShawn Johnson, who will anchor the offensive and defensive lines.

“The unsung heroes are those guys up front,” said Nevels. “If we can win that battle in the trenches more often than not, we feel like we’ve got a step ahead of everyone else from the beginning.”

The other returning starter is senior running back Ezaiah Tillman, who scored the team’s only rushing touchdown and caught one of the three scoring passes in nine games last season.

“Ezaiah is more of a throwback kind of guy,” said Nevels. “He’s not going to make a lot of moves, but he’s going to go straight ahead and break some tackles. We’re really excited to see what he can do for us this year.”

Tillman also made a team-high 34 tackles as a linebacker last season. But coach Nevels doesn’t list any returning starters in the defensive secondary that’s responsible for stopping high-yardage plays.

“We have some young skill guys who will have an opportunity to contribute early and often,” Nevels said. “Our season will be based on how quickly we mature.”

Last year’s 0-10 record snapped a four-year run of winning seasons for the Bulldogs, who won back-to-back Class 4A district titles in 2019 and 2020. Despite his limited number of returning players, Nevels remains “even keeled,” knowing  this isn’t the first time that his team has been young.

“My first couple of years I might have been panicking,” he said. “They’re young now, but they’re not going to be young forever.”

While this team may experience some growing pains early on, there’s no saying they cannot overcome them.

“No place I’d rather be than the C-O-V,” Nevels said with a laugh. “We try to draw strength from where we’re from and who we are. That’s what we rally behind.”

For Nevels, the main goal is to help his players mature and grow beyond the field, with the wins and losses following behind that.

“Our big thing is that we want to do the little things right,” he said when discussing his goals for the season. “We want to grow great young men who are able to go out into our society and community and make a difference.”

HOLMES BULLDOGS
2023 SEASON: 0-10 record, lost in first round of Class 4A playoffs.
STARTERS RETURNING: 4 offense, 4 defense.
DISTRICT: Class 4A, District 5 with Covington Catholic, Grant County, Harrison County, Mason County.
HEAD COACH: Ben Nevels (57-61 in 10 seasons at Holmes).

2024 SCHEDULE
Aug. 23 – BOONE COUNTY, 7 p.m.
Aug. 30 – NEWPORT, 7 p.m.
Sept. 6 – LLOYD, 7 p.m.
Sept. 13 – at Scott, 7 p.m.
Sept. 20 – WALTON-VERONA, 7 p.m.
Sept. 27 – COVINGTON CATHOLIC, 7 p.m.
Oct. 4 – at Mason County, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 11 – at Grant County, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 25 – HARRISON COUNTY, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 1 – vs. Newport Central Catholic at CovCath, 7 p.m.

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