The Fruitport football team was keenly aware that the early part of its schedule this season would be particularly tough, with the first five opponents coming off playoff seasons.

First on the docket was Spring Lake, which finished 7-3 last season and was state ranked in Division 4 in this year’s preseason polls.

For a team like the Trojans, who were 0-9 last season, opening against their traditional rivals, who happen to be very good again, brought a lot of pressure.

Obviously it didn’t go well for Fruitport, which returned home with a 40-7 loss.

The game could have been closer, but several promising Fruitport offensive drives ended without producing points.

The Trojans reached the Spring Lake eight-yard line in the second quarter before the clock expired on the first half. They reached the Laker seven in the third quarter but turned the ball over on downs.

Fruitport finally scored in the fourth quarter when quarterback Bradon Dornbos capped a seven-play, 65-yard drive with a seven-yard TD run.

A few Trojans put up decent numbers, including Dornbos, who rushed for 89 yards and completed eight passes for 68 yards. DayDay Williams was his top receiver, catching four passes for 31 yards. Williams also had 27 yards on the ground. Blair Zimmer had two catches for 21 yards.

David Johnson-Jimenez had eight tackles to lead the Fruitport defense, followed by Kalan Teeter with seven and Easton Fett with six.

The ugly final score doesn’t mean the Trojans are any less determined to turn things around. They just know they will have to work extra hard for it, particularly through the first five weeks.

The Trojans have another tough assignment this week, hosting Big Rapids, a defending Division 4 district champion, in their first home game of the season.

After that the Trojans will hit the road to play three more 2023 playoff teams – Comstock Park, Muskegon Catholic Central and Belding.

“We’ve said all along the first few games would be a challenge,” said Fruitport head coach Nate Smith. “We still have to keep that growth mindset and know that it’s a long season. A lot of our goals are still intact. We have to continue to try and improve every week.”

Big Rapids also coming off a loss

There may be room for progress this week, because Big Rapids may not be quite as good as last season, when it posted a 10-2 record, beat Spring Lake in the playoffs, then gained a lot of attention with a huge upset of powerful Whitehall in the district finals.

The Cardinals graduated at least four All-Conference players from that team who are all playing college football this year. That list includes last year’s starting quarterback and leading receiver, according to a published report.

Graduation must have taken some sort of toll, because Big Rapids opened last week with a loss of its own, 32-14 to Paw Paw.

Despite that, Coach Smith is not assuming the Cardinals will be anything but tough to beat, and he wants his team to remember that.

“They’re a good football team,” he said. “They returned a ton of guys. I think they’re experienced and come in hungry after losing last week.

“They’re big and physical up front. If we’re not disciplined, we could get in trouble. On defense, they fly around and have some really good athletes.”

The Trojans are clearly hungry for victory. They have not won a game since Oct. 28, 2022, when they beat Ludington in the playoffs.

While the wait for another win has certainly been frustrating, Smith said the players need to use that feeling as motivation to work harder.

“It’s a challenge,” the coach said. “It’s easy to start looking and questioning. But that should be a driving factor to put more work in. I don’t know any other way but to put our heads down and keeping doing what we need to do in order to get better.

“It will pay off, and I firmly believe that. We’re in a good spot where guys just want to get better and have completely bought in.”

Farley says the Trojan defense will improve

One ongoing point of concern for the Trojans, over the past few seasons and into last week’s game, has been defense.

Last year Fruitport gave up 436 points in nine games, for an average of 48 points per game. The 40 points surrendered against Spring Lake did little to make fans feel more comfortable about the Trojans’ ability to keep opponents out of the end zone.

But change is already underway. Coach Smith brought in three new defensive coaches this year to help that unit improve its performance.

The new defensive coordinator is Jason Duram, who had that role for a long time at Grand Haven. The new linebackers coach is Mike Farley, the former head coach at Grand Haven. The new defensive line coach is Rob Newton, a former Trojan who has been coaching in the Fruitport system for several years.

Ryder Smith coaches the defensive backs.

Farley said Spring Lake simply has a very potent offense, and nobody should draw final conclusions about the Fruitport defense based on its effort against the Lakers.

“I’m telling you right now, I have never seen Spring Lake have an offensive line like they do this year,” Farley said. “It will be interesting to see what defense will be able to stop their offense.

“There are definitely some things we need to clean up, but we’re getting better every day. I feel real good about where things are at right now. We’re really working hard on technique and fundamentals.

“I know on Friday that we’re going to play much better.”