FRUITPORT – When a team is trying to rebound from a very rough season, it helps to have opponents who are within competitive striking distance.

That will likely be the case for the Fruitport football team this fall, as the Trojans try to return to their winning ways while competing in a new conference, against a lot of new opponents that had similar struggles last season.

It’s going to be a whole new ballgame for the Trojans, and fans can follow it all on MuskegonSports.com, the online home of Fruitport football, starting with the season opener on Aug. 29 against archrival Spring Lake.

It’s all part of MuskegonSports.com’s commitment to cover all Fruitport varsity sports in the 2024-25 prep season, beginning in just over a month!

Fruitport area businesses that are interested in joining our coverage team as advertising partners are encouraged to send an email to [email protected] to learn more!

The past few seasons have been a roller coaster ride for the Fruitport football team. In 2022 the Trojans had their best season in years, posting an 8-3 record, winning a share of the O-K Blue conference championship and advancing to the second round of the state playoffs.

A lot of top players on that team were seniors, however, leaving the Trojans with a lot of inexperienced guys playing crucial roles last fall.

The result was not pretty. Despite some preseason optimism, Fruitport finished with an 0-9 record for the first time since 1980. The Trojans were outscored by a painful total of 437-148, which was very uncharacteristic for the tradition-rich program.

“We had a few injuries, and we were inexperienced anyway,” said Fruitport head coach Nate Smith. “We had to rely on a lot of kids who were getting varsity experience for the first time. The inexperience started showing itself.”

As painful as 2023 was, history suggests there is hope for a nice rebound this season. After the Trojans lost every game in 1980, they turned around and posted a very respectable 6-2-1 mark in 1981.

Big changes in this year’s schedule tell us that a similar turnaround could be possible this season.

Fruitport has switched from the very tough O-K Blue conference to the O-K Silver conference for the 2024 season, and the competition is not expected to be quite as fierce.

Of the six other teams in the new O-K Silver, only one finished with a winning record last year. That was Belding, a traditional football power, which made the playoffs before bowing out with an 8-2 record.

One team – Comstock Park – finished with a 5-5 record, while the other four were pretty bad.

Hopkins and Godwin Heights both finished 2-7 while Kelloggsville and Holland were 0-9.

That’s a huge difference from last year’s O-K Blue conference, where Hudsonville Unity Christian, Coopersville, Spring Lake and Allendale all finished with winning records and qualified for the state playoffs.

While there is no guarantee that all the new O-K Silver opponents that struggled last year will be just as bad this fall, there is clearly an opportunity for Fruitport to start winning some football games again.

“I would say so,” Coach Smith said, when asked if the new conference will be a positive thing for his team. “You want to get some success because success breeds success. Playing more teams that are similar to us is going to be advantageous. We’re looking forward to it.”

That being said, the Trojans will have a lot of opponents who are in the same situation – trying to dig out from a really bad 2023 – so the teams that work the hardest will claim some victories.

“We’ve told our guys, a lot of the other teams in the conference didn’t win a lot of games last year, but they will look at us and say the same thing,” Smith said. “Our guys are excited to show what Fruitport football is all about.”

The Trojans will be a lot more experienced this season, with many of those same young players who were forced into the lineup last year coming back with more bulk and know-how.

Smith expects about 15 or 16 players to return from last year’s roster, many of whom have a lot of game experience.  

Among the returnees will be starting quarterback Bradon Dornbos and starting wide receiver DayDay Williams, who both displayed a lot of potential last fall.

“We have a lot of juniors, but they are not normal juniors,” Smith said. “They’ve already been through the ringer. What they went through last year was tough, but then they went into the weight room and have been working their tails off. I really think, in a couple of years, they are going to be talking about all of the valuable lessons that they learned last year.”

The toughest part of the Trojans’ schedule will be the first half, when they open against five teams that qualified for the state playoffs last season, with four of those games on the road.

They will open on the road in a non-conference game against rival Spring Lake, host Big Rapids in Week 2, then will visit Comstock Park, Muskegon Catholic and Belding in Weeks 3-5.

If they can get through that stretch in decent shape, the Trojans could be in line for a very strong finish.

“We get our biggest rival in Week 1, when we are still answering questions about ourselves, then we have Big Rapids, who was a regional champion,” Smith said. “Our first two games are going to be as tough as any we had last year, then we have Belding, Comstock Park and Muskegon Catholic. It’s going to be a challenge!”

2024 FRUITPORT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Aug. 29 – Spring Lake – A
Sept. 6 – Big Rapids – H
Sept. 13 – Comstock Park – A
Sept. 20 – Muskegon Catholic – A
Sept. 27 – Belding – A
Oct. 4 – Godwin Heights – A
Oct. 11 – Hopkins – H
Oct. 18 – Holland – H
Oct. 25 – Kelloggsville – Heddie