FRUITPORT – The Fruitport football team’s defense deserved overtime pay last Friday night.
The Trojan defenders spent an inordinate amount of time on the field, mostly because the offense struggled to take advantage of multiple opportunities, move the ball and give the defense some rest.
The encouraging part was that the defense did a great job, particularly in the first half, holding a good Hopkins squad to a single touchdown. Fruitport only trailed 7-6 at halftime and had a real chance to win on Homecoming night.
The offense still didn’t move the ball much after halftime, however, and the exhausted defense eventually surrendered three more scores in a 27-12 loss.
But it was obvious that the Trojan D has improved significantly since last year, when it gave up an average of 48 points per game, and earlier this season, when it allowed 40 points against Spring Lake, 41 against Big Rapids and 58 against Belding.
In four of the seven games this season, the Trojan defenders have held opponents to fewer than 30 points and gave the team a chance to win each time.
In the Week 3 victory over Comstock Park, the Panthers scored 27 points, but one touchdown was a pick-six. In the Week 4 victory over Muskegon Catholic, the Fruitport defense only allowed 14 points.
In the Week 6 loss to Godwin Heights, the defense only allowed 15 points, which should have resulted in a victory.
Then last week, as mentioned above, the defense was stellar in the first half, forcing Hopkins into six fourth-down situations, which led to two punts and a turnover on downs.
Ethan Riggs and Kalan Teeter led the effort last week with 11 tackles apiece. Blair Zimmer added nine, Bradon Dornbos had six and DayDay Williams had four.
For the season, Teeter leads with 51 tackles, Easton Fett has 44, Riggs has 41, Zimmer has 35 and Chase Rosema has 34.
Fruitport head coach Nate Smith is counting on another great defensive effort on Friday night when the Trojans host Holland in an O-K Silver conference game.
“I think it’s a light years difference,” Smith said about the progress on defense. “There are a lot of reasons for that. There’ a lot more confidence on the defensive side. The kids understand their assignments and what we’re trying to do as a whole. We’ve been getting consistent coaching and more consistent play.”
Defensive coaching shakeup helped a lot
Smith says much of the defensive improvement has to do with the new-look defensive coaching staff, starting with the arrival of two old friends from his days as an assistant coach with the Grand Haven varsity.
Smith recruited Jason Duram, the former defensive coordinator at Grand Haven, to take the same job with the Trojans. He also talked former GH head coach Mike Farley into joining the staff as linebackers coach after one year of retirement from football.
“I would have loved to get Coach Duram over here years ago,” Smith said. “When the opportunity presented itself, it was a no-brainer. He has a tremendous work ethic and attention to detail, and coaches with a lot of passion. The kids really respond to that.
“I had been trying to convince Coach Farley to get back to coaching. I think he was enjoying the retired life, but remembered how much he loves being around the game and the kids. He’s a really good linebackers coach, and he’s gold in the weight room. He’s one of the best strength and conditioning coaches I’ve ever been around.”
The two newcomers have teamed with defensive secondary coach Dakota Smith and defensive line coach Rob Newton to give the unit a new lease on life.
“The four of them have a really good relationship,” Smith said about the defensive coaches. “They all just clicked immediately.”
Preparing for an improved Holland squad
The Trojans have a 2-5 record as they head into the final two games of the season, both at home, against Holland on Friday and Kelloggsville in Week 9.
While that record is certainly better than the 0-9 mark Fruitport posted last year, the team very much wants to finish up with a pair of wins for several different reasons.
One is to give the 15 seniors on the roster a good sendoff. The other is to start building momentum for next season, when the majority of starters will return on both sides of the ball.
“We had a conversation today about the obligation of the juniors and sophomores to send our seniors out the right way, after everything they’ve done for the program for the last three years,” Smith said. “We also want to create something that we can build on next year. We want to ride some positive momentum into the offseason. That’s the goal.
“We have a lot coming back. If they make a commitment to the weight room in the offseason, and to each other, we could do some good things next year.”
The Trojans should have a decent opportunity to win both of their remaining games, if they play up to their potential, because neither of their opponents are having great seasons.
But Holland, which was winless in both 2022 and 2023, is a team on the rise. The Dutch are 3-4 this season, with victories over Ottawa Hills (48-0), Kelloggsville (37-0) and Comstock Park (48-22).
“They are a good football team,” Smith said. “It’s the best team they’ve had in several years. They have a really good running back and a super athletic quarterback who scrambles and makes a lot of plays.”
The Trojans understand they will have another challenge on their hands, but they’re determined to snap their three-game losing streak.
“We had a really good practice on Wednesday,” Smith said. “At one point the guys were getting a little chippy with each other, I think because there is some frustration, but I was super proud of how they handled those things. They took a step back, looked at each other, and decided that we have 10 days left, and they want to make those the best 10 days they possibly can.”
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