James Holland is another example of what prep football is supposed to be about. The Hazen senior isn’t just a star on the field but he’s one in the classroom, too.

He leads simply and by example – not by imposing his style on those around him.

“I try to listen and be a vessel between the team and the coaches,” Holland said. “I had the title of captain, but people didn’t need me to tell them what to do very much.”

Having someone like Holland helped new coach Drew Oliver when he took over the team this year.

“He’s a leader through and through,” Oliver said. “It’s mostly by example. He’ll speak up when he needs to. If he speaks, people listen.”

Holland rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored 13 times on the ground this year as the Highlanders finished 7-4 and second in the Seamount.

“He stepped up in our biggest games,” Oliver said. “He carried the offense and showed the guys that he’s a workhorse and ready for the ball anytime.”

The highlight of the year for Holland was Hazen’s 28-14 win against Kennedy Catholic Oct. 22. The Highlanders had not beaten Kennedy in 18 years. Holland scored three rushing touchdowns in the game and twice in the fourth quarter to give his team the lead.

“It was definitely a feeling of joy,” he said. “There was also relief too in the sense that it had been so long and we got the results we were looking for.”

Holland said Oliver brought an attitude change to the team in his first year as the coach. “It’s a stark difference. When we were behind we never gave up. We learned to be competitors.”

Holland plans to either play football or compete in track in college. He hasn’t nailed down a school yet, but his options include the University of Washington, Princeton, Columbia and the military academies.

“I think he’s the type of personality that’s going to put his full heart into what he does,” Oliver said. “I think that will make him successful. He’s got a fair amount of athletic ability, but it’s through hard work that he’s been able to get where he is.”

Holland has a course load that includes AP calculus, AP biology and fourth-year Spanish. Taking academics seriously is something he has been learning for a long time.

“Since I was small, my Dad has engrained that it’s academics first,” Holland said. “So it’s as big, or bigger, than the athletics. No matter how good you are, you have to have something to fall back on.”