FRUITPORT – It looked all night like Fruitport’s final home game of the season would end with a celebration for the seniors playing their last regular season game at Doc Pierce Field.
Instead, after a slew of penalties, a Godwin Heights comeback featuring a last-second field goal, and a bench-clearing altercation after the final play, the night ended in frustration and heartbreak for the Trojans.
Godwin Heights rallied back from an 18-point deficit, capped off by a game-winning field goal with just one second left, to beat the Trojans 31-30 in a key O-K Silver conference game.
The loss certainly did not help the Trojans’ hopes of making the state playoffs.
“We knew that was a game we needed to win,” said Fruitport head coach Nate Smith. “I think if we win that game and win out, we’re pretty confident about getting into the playoffs. Now, it’s going to be one of those situations where hopefully we can get in at 5-4.”
[1]
[2]
Fruitport held a 30-28 lead and the ball with 3:56 to play, but could not nail down the win. On a third down with about two minutes left, a holding penalty negated a first down that may have put the game on ice. Instead the Trojans punted with 1:21 to play.
Godwin Heights, equipped with all three timeouts, moved down the field with a handful of pass completions, eventually setting up a 30-yard field goal attempt with six seconds remaining. Gustavo Mazariegos’ kick had just enough to clear the crossbar, putting his team up 31-30 with a second to play.
In a game that featured plenty of penalty flags, Smith thought one should have been thrown ahead of the winning kick.
“They had a guy on the field with his helmet off,” the coach said. “That should have been (a penalty). It’s unfortunate. But I don’t think that’s the game. It’s easy to point to that one play or call, but we had a lot of times that we didn’t conduct ourselves properly. We had way, way, way too many penalties.”
The Trojans had several drives stalled by holding penalties. They also gave the Wolverines numerous first downs via pass interference and personal foul calls.
“Penalties killed our drives,” Smith said. “They were penalties that we made. We’ve got to own that.”
[3]
[4]
Friday’s game started with one of the more bizarre plays you’ll ever see in a football game.
Fruitport’s DayDay Williams was returning the opening kickoff near midfield when Godwin Heights forced a fumble. Thaddeus McCranie recovered for the Wolverines and took off into the open field – but he ran the wrong way, toward his team’s own end zone, resulting in a safety.
The Trojans were gifted two points, and received the ball back on another kickoff, just 15 seconds into the game.
The first touchdown came with 7:23 left in the first quarter. Fruitport’s Liam Campbell scored from 29 yards out to give the Trojans a 9-0 lead after the extra point. The Wolverines fumbled on their next possession, and the Trojans took advantage with an 18-yard TD run by Kalan Teeter to make it 16-0 with 3:21 left in the first quarter.
Godwin Heights answered on its next drive with a one-yard TD run by quarterback Martellis Forest, making the score 16-6. Fruitport quickly extended its edge when Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. A two-point run by Josh Eppard made it 24-6 early in the second quarter.
[5]
[6]
At that point it seemed like the Trojans were in control, but the game was far from over.
Godwin Heights added a score on a five-yard pass from Forest to Ka’Res Harris, plus a two-point conversion, to make it 24-14 with 4:35 left until halftime. The Wolverines threatened again, but lost a fumble out of the end zone in the closing seconds, and the Trojans kept their 10-point advantage at the break.
Fruitport struck first in the second half when kicker and soccer standout Nathaniel Cribley-Cotto nailed a 37-yard field goal to make it 27-14.
Godwin Heights answered with a touchdown on a six-yard run by Aidan Jackson to make it 27-21 with 11:42 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Cribley-Cotto added a second field goal, this one from 23 yards, with 5:21 to play to give Fruitport a two-possession lead at 30-21.
Just five plays later, on a fourth down, Forest and Harris connected for a 30-yard TD pass for the Wolverines to make it 30-28 – with the early two-point safety looming large.
[7]
[8]
The Trojans, hampered by the holding penalty, went three-and-out and punted back to Godwin Heights. The Wolverines ran nine plays in 1:05 before kicking the winning field goal with just a second remaining.
Williams returned the final kickoff to around the 45-yard-line before being tackled.
The end of the game was scarred by a bench-clearing brawl involving players from both teams. Tensions from the physical contest, which had several unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on both sides, boiled over. Players from both teams had to be separated by teammates and coaches.
Smith said he wasn’t exactly sure what happened, because it started on the opposite side of the field, but thought it was extremely unfortunate.
“I for sure don’t condone the way our guys responded,” Smith said. “Across the board, both teams have got to be better, be more focused and under control. That is not the way we want to represent ourselves.”
[9]Because of the altercation, Fruitport’s players were ushered off into the locker room, rather than gathering as a team on the field after the game.
“It’s not the way you want the seniors to go off this field,” Smith said. “They should be out there spending time as teammates on the field for the last time. Unfortunately, because of what happened, they had to be ushered back into the locker room. I think it’s super disappointing. It’s something that was taken from them because cooler heads couldn’t prevail.”
Campbell led the Fruitport offense with 119 yards on 18 rushing attempts. Teeter totaled 84 yards on 10 carries and was the team’s leading receiver with one catch for eight yards.
Brady Hanson was 4-for-7 passing for 27 yards and also recovered a fumble on defense.
Eppard, Alan Jackson, Easton Fett and Bryson Simila each had six tackles for the Trojans Williams, Teeter and Mason DeVries each added a handful of stops.
Fruitport (3-4) will play visit Holland (2-5) next week in another conference game.
[10]
[11]
[12]