FRUITPORT – Last year the Fruitport soccer team was really good, with a lot of the same players that it has this year.

This season the Trojans have been downright great, with an undefeated record and a No. 1 state ranking as the postseason nears.

So how did the Trojans go from really good to great?

There are lots of reasons, of course, but a big one has been the emergence of the big forward they call “Big Country,” who checks in at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds.

Senior Isaac VanderMolen has always been tall and strong, of course, but this year he’s been using his large frame more effectively to become a major scoring threat.

He looks like a man among boys, and now his stats suggest that, too.

Last year he scored seven goals and helped the Trojans reach the state quarterfinals.

This year he has almost doubled that production with 13 goals (along with six assists), which had made the Trojans an even more difficult team for opponents to deal with.

His best night came on Thursday, when he scored three times in a 9-2 victory over Godwin Heights in the O-K Silver conference tournament semifinals. The win clinched the overall conference championship for the Trojans, even though the tournament still has one game to go.

“Honestly, the biggest contribution I have is my size,” VanderMolen said. “Being able to post against center backs and play off wingers has helped too, but I have a size advantage to post up, and it’s a big help.”

VanderMolen’s strength has always been a factor. After all, he’s a high school kid who does construction work and other heavy labor jobs outside of school.

He’s continued to build on his large frame every year with dedicated work in the weight room.

“He’s put a lot of work in and continues to grow,” said Fruitport head coach Dan Hazekamp.  “My brother, who coaches with me, runs our offseason weightlifting program, and Isaac has been all in on that. He’s one of the leaders in there.”

The weight room is where the “Big Country” nickname came from, in fact.

“He’s like a roofer and works construction,” Hazekamp said with a laugh. “He works really hard manual labor jobs and shows up in the summer for training just covered in stuff.

“One day he told us he was doing something at work with logs, so my brother just called him Big Country. Part of it was due to his size, but it was more due to his attitude and demeanor than anything. That stuck and now a lot of people refer to him that way.”

VanderMolen’s increased production has to do with more than strength, however. It’s also been about improving as a soccer player and cutting down on the penalty cards.

“Each season, he’s matured and understood the game better,” Hazekamp said. “Plus he plays with a little bit of an edge and has an aggressive physicality about him. That will help him down the road in college, but he has that at the high school level, right now, which can be tough (for opponents) to handle.

“He’s just continued to grow and mature. His card numbers have gone down as we’ve expressed to him that we need him on the field.”

VanderMolen’s big three-goal night on Thursday helped the Trojans secure their first conference title in seven years.

“It felt great,” he said “It’s our first conference title since 2017. I definitely couldn’t have done it without the whole team behind me.

“Overall, I’m just trying to win. I don’t care about goals or assists. I just do my part. I try to lead, even though I’m not a captain. I want to lead by example and communicate as much as possible on the field.”

The victory left Fruitport with an almost perfect 16-0-1 record heading into Monday’s conference championship game at home against Calvin Christian.

The only blemish on the Trojans’ record is a recent 1-1 tie with rival Spring Lake.

“We get everyone’s best shot,” VanderMolen said about being undefeated. “But it makes us better as a team. We put everything we have out there.”

At his size, one might have expected VanderMolen to be playing football and/or basketball, but he’s been a soccer player since he was very young, and it’s definitely where his passion lies.

“I started to enjoy it around 10 or so, and I started taking it more serious and trying to develop more things,” he said “Basketball just never really interested me. Even though I have the size for it, I’ve never had the urge. I did cross country a bit, and I dabbled in track some, but it really wasn’t for me.”

VanderMolen’s high school soccer career will be coming to a close within the next few weeks, one way or the other.

After Monday’s game, the Trojans will begin their push for state glory in Division 2 districts.

They will start that push a week from Tuesday at home against either Spring Lake or Kenowa Hills. From that point forward, it’s win or go home.

The Trojans just want to keep winning until there are no more games to win.

“I’ve thought about it,” VanderMolen said about the possibility of winning a state championship. “It would mean a lot. It’s one of the biggest goals. We have a tough district and regional, though. We’ve just got to take it one game at a time, and we’re hoping to get there.”