FRUITPORT – When most teams get an overdue victory, they say they got the monkey off their backs.

In the case of the Fruitport football team, it was a 1,000-pound gorilla.

As everyone knows, the Trojans put a painful 12-game losing streak to bed last Friday with a thrilling 30-27 comeback win over Comstock Park in the first game they ever played in the O-K Silver conference.

The win followed two pretty lobsided losses to start the season, against Spring Lake and Big Rapids, and showed the Fruitport players that they have the skill and the guts to win.

And the way they won – after squandering an early 10-point lead, falling behind by 10, then coming back at the end – should be an extra confidence builder.

Confidence counts for a lot in high school football.

“I anticipate that it will bring a great change for us,” said Fruitport head coach Nate Smith, whose team will try to make it two wins in a row on Friday when the Trojans travel to face Muskegon Catholic Central. “The guys know we still have a lot of challenges in front of us, but they also knew we don’t want to make (the victory) just a blip on the radar.

“You watch game film after a loss, and you point out to them the ways that they have gotten better. When you win, you point those things out, and also the fact that it helped us win, and it makes a difference. I think there will be a little more bounce in our step this week.”

Lots of Trojans had good nights against Comstock Park.

Quarterback Bradon Dornbos had two huge plays in the fourth quarter, throwing the go-ahead touchdown pass to DayDay Williams, then intercepting a Comstock Park pass in the end zone to seal the win.

Dornbos completed 6 of 11 passes for 100 yards and one TD. He also rushed for a touchdown.

Williams caught 10 passes for 117 yards, including the game-winning catch.

Junior running back Kalan Teeter rushed for 96 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns.

Defensively, Williams have five tackles, Justin Woodard and Easton Fett each had 4.5 and Teeter finished with four.   

Kicker Riley King nailed a very important 30-yard field goal in the first quarter that ended up providing the Trojans with their margin of victory.

“Comstock Park was a playoff team last year, but when we play up to our potential we can match up well with anyone,” Coach Smith said. “Comstock Park had that first-drive score, and I was hoping our guys weren’t going to mentally cash it in, but I talked to a couple of our captains, and they were in a good space. Then we hit a field goal and I think we were ready to roll.

“I think our guys are going to be excited and be ready to keep growing.”

That will be important, because the Trojans have a couple of very tough challenges in the next two weeks, starting at MCC on Friday.

The Crusaders are off to a sluggish 1-2 start this season, following a 30-29 season-opening loss to New Lothrup, a 27-0 loss to Gabriel Richard, and finally a big 39-8 win over Benton Harbor last weekend.

Before any Trojans fans get too excited about MCC’s record, however, they should remember that the Crusaders started each of the past two seasons with 1-2 records but ended up in the playoffs each season.

MCC always makes the playoffs, and has a long history of incredible success, including its magical run of four straight state championships between 2013 and 2016.

Fruitport is 1-6 all time against Muskegon Catholic. The teams have played four times since 2000, with the Trojans winning 24-21 in 2012 and MCC winning the last three.

While the two teams have not played much in recent years, they are very familiar with each other.

Coach Smith spent three years on the MCC staff before coming to Fruitport, and the Trojans do summer conditioning, scrimmages and other activities with the Crusaders.

Smith has a tremendous amount of respect for MCC’s program and coaches and knows the game will be a huge challenge.

“I was there with (coaches) Czerwon and Ribecky for three years,” he said. “It is definitely a team we are close to. We have done stuff with them every summer, ever since I have been here.

“We have nothing but respect for the program and the tradition and the history they have. They are very physical up front, and they have Bryan Convertini (the starting quarterback and all-around standout), who is as good of a player as I have seen in a long time.

“We are going to have to put our best product on the field against a team we know very well. It should be an exciting and interesting game, for sure.”