FRUITPORT – High school football players only get so many opportunities to compete.

Their teams only play once a week, nine weeks a season, unless they are fortunate enough to make the playoffs. For all the countless hours of grueling practice and conditioning they put in, they get precious little time on the field.

That’s why Fruitport senior Kaiden Bell was so miserable last year. He spent the entire winter, spring and summer preparing for football, then was injured right away, missed seven games and couldn’t be there to help his team in some very close losses.

So he’s super-pumped to get back in action when Fruitport opens the 2022 season on Thursday night in a road game at Kenowa Hills.

“I’m very excited,” said Bell, a hulking 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive tackle and defensive end. “It’s going to be a very fun game, and I’m actually going to be able to play! It’s kind of like the start of my revenge tour. I broke my hand, sat out a bunch of games, we lost some games, so it’s kind of like a double-sided revenge tour.”

Fruitport head coach Nate Smith is very happy to have his big senior lineman back in the lineup, for more than one reason. He said Bell is a dominant player on the field and an equally important teammate when it comes to leadership.

“He’s good on both sides of the ball,” Smith said. “We like him at offensive tackle. He has good hands and good footwork. And he’s a dude on the defensive side. He’s tough to move.

“We missed his physical play, but also his leadership. He’s a positive, hard worker and an intense player. He’s a bear on the field, and a super nice guy off the field.

“He will get on his teammates sometimes when he thinks he needs to, but he can be the good cop, as well. When a coach gets after a player for something or another, it’s not uncommon to see Kaiden put an arm around that kid and encourage him. That’s the kind of kid he is. He cares about his teammates and wants what’s best for the team.”

Last year’s season opener, at home against Kenowa Hills, is a game that Bell would like to forget.

Something happened on the very first play from scrimmage and he broke several fingers in his right hand. He was out of the game within minutes, had surgery soon after, and ended up missing all but three games of the season.

Bell had a lot of adrenaline flowing when the injury occurred, and it took a few minutes for him to realize that something was wrong.

“I didn’t think it was broken,” Bell said. “I think it got stepped on and it went numb for a little bit.

“I played for a little longer, then I was taken out and I asked our athletic trainer to look at it, and she said it was probably broken. I slept on it, went and got X-rays the next day, and they confirmed that it was broken, my second and third fingers. I had surgery a couple of hours after they said it was broken.”

Bell said he was told he could probably return to action in 3-4 weeks following the surgery, which would have put him back in the lineup by midseason. But his hand healed up slower than expected, and he didn’t return until the final game of the regular season.

Standing on the sideline and watching was torture for Bell, particularly during the several close games that turned out to be painful losses for Fruitport.

The Trojans lost three close games by a total of 17 points last season, and Bell had to stand and watch two of them – a 29-22 loss to Coopersville in Week 2 and a 35-32 loss to archrival Spring Lake in Week 3.

“That was not fun at all, especially when we lost those super close games,” Bell said. “The Spring Lake game a heartbreaker. I hated that feeling so much. You feel sad and at the same time you want to help your team, and there’s nothing you can do. I felt angry, sad, lots of emotions.”

Bell worked hard to remain in shape while he was sidelined, so he was able to perform reasonably well when he returned for the last two games – a 55-13 loss to Hudsonville Unity Christian and a 42-35 playoff loss to Cadillac.

He had to wear a protective device on his hand to guard his fingers, so he didn’t feel quite as effective as he would have liked.

“It’s pretty hard to block on offense with one hand,” Bell said. “I think I lost a little confidence.”

Bell hit the weight room hard in the offseason and bulked up for his senior year, going from about 275 pounds to his current weight of 300.

“Even before we started our offseason lifts I tried to go two or three times per day, and in winter lifting I was there almost every single day,” he said. “I worked my butt off the entire time.”

Bell is excited to start the season from a personal perspective, because he missed playing so much, and from a team perspective, because he thinks the Trojans have a chance to have a great season.

Fruitport returns a lot of starters on both sides of the ball, including All-State slot receiver Cody Nash and All-Conference running back Paschal Jolman.

“I think we’re going to have a very good team and a good season,” Bell said. “We have a very good work ethic, size, strength, experience and chemistry. I’ve very excited.”