FRUITPORT – By the time the fall sports season ends, Brady Brown will probably put far more points on the scoreboard for the Fruitport football team than the Fruitport soccer team.
That’s very good news for both teams, the way the season has panned out so far.
For the past two years Brown has been an All-State defender for the Trojan soccer team.
Before the current season started, soccer coach Dan Hazekamp said he was thinking about moving Brown to a forward or midfield position so he could use his strong leg to score goals.
[1]But other scorers have stepped up for the Trojans, allowing Brown to move back to his defensive position, where he’s mastered the art of stopping opponents from finding the Fruitport goal.
It’s obviously worked out pretty well, because the Fruitport soccer team is off to a great 6-0 start this season.
Meanwhile, Brown has stepped back into a crucial role for the Trojan football team.
Two years ago, as a sophomore, he became Fruitport’s placekicker and did very well on extra points and field goals.
[2]He decided not to play football last season because he wanted focus on soccer. The football team suffered in his absence, leaving some points on the field that could have been successful PATs or field goals.
In the offseason a lot of Brown’s friends on the football team started coaxing him to come back this year.
He finally decided to rejoin the team and become a two-sport fall athlete again, and the football team is clearly better off because of that.
That was obvious last Thursday when Brown kicked a 37-yard field goal in the Trojans’ opener against Kenowa Hills. Fruitport ended up losing the game, but it certainly wasn’t because of the kicking game.
[3]“He kicked the 37-yarder, but it might have been good from 50,” said Fruitport head coach Nate Smith. “He’s very strong from 35 yards, and I don’t want to sound too optimistic, but I would bet he would be about 85 percent from 45. It’s pretty impressive.”
Having a strong kicker gives the Trojan offense more options, according to Smith. Going for a first down or punting on a fourth-and-long situation is not as necessary when you have someone who can get you three points from a distance.
“It gives the offense more confidence and makes game calling a big different,” the coach said. “He’s not going to be a secret much longer.”
Brown will not be available for the Trojans’ home football game against Grand Rapids Christian on Thursday, because the soccer team has a big game at Holland Christian, but he still has plenty of season left to leave his mark in the gridiron.
[4]“Soccer is his passion and he’s been incredibly successful with it,” Smith said. “We would love to have him for every single game, but we totally support him playing with our incredibly successful soccer team.”
Brown did not play any football as a youngster. He said he started goofing around kicking a football before his sophomore season and decided to try out for varsity.
He said it took some time for him to decide to return to football this season, but his buddies on the team convinced him.
“I told those guys ‘Maybe’ for a while,” Brown said. “I was on the fence, then I figured it was my senior year, so I might as well do it.”
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Brown was thrilled when he hit his first field goal attempt of the season from 37 yards out, which he believes is the longest of his varsity career.
“It was a confidence booster,” he said. “Before the game I was not having the best warmup, so when I hit that I thought, ‘Maybe I can still do this.’”
As for soccer, Brown said he’s more than happy being back on defense.
“We experimented with a few different positions, but we found some people who could play up top and we mesh a lot better with me in the back.
[6]“I enjoy scoring goals, but I think I like playing defense more. You can see the whole field and control where the ball is going. I also really like getting assists. Setting the team up to score from back there is a main goal.”
Coach Hazekamp said he still moves Brown up front from time to time, when the team needs extra offense, but having him on defense is a strong suit for Trojans.
“When we’re in control of games he provides a lot of leadership in back,” said Hazekamp, who noted that Brown leads the soccer team in assists. “Our guys feel comfortable when he’s back there. He’s a really strong presence. He plays very instinctually and is very smart technically. He’s done a tremendous job for us this season.” 
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