FRUITPORT – You could say the Fruitport football team is a little snake-bitten by Godwin Heights.

Last year the Trojans gave up the ball on downs at the Godwin Heights 7-yard line as they were marching toward the go-ahead score, and lost 15-12.

Last Friday, the Trojans were clinging to a 30-28 lead as the clock ran down, then the Wolverines kicked a 30-yard field goal to score the winning points with one second left on the clock.

The ball barely got over the cross bar – but it did it get over, and that was all that mattered in a tough 31-30 loss.

“In all honesty, maybe a yard,” said Fruitport head coach Nate Smith, when asked how much he thought the field goal kick cleared the bar by. “It if was another yard deeper I don’t think he makes that. It was close. It was coming down at such a steep angle, so it was hard for us to tell at the moment.”

The fact remains, however, that the painful loss wouldn’t have happened of the Trojans had taken care of business and nailed down the victory when they were in control.

Fruitport led 24-6 early in the second quarter, 24-14 at halftime and 27-14 and 30-21 in the second half.

The Trojans built the big lead with lots of impressive plays, including a 29-yard touchdown run by Liam Campbell, an 18-yard TD run by Kalan Teeter, a 93-yard kickoff return touchdown by DayDay Williams, and a pair of field goals by Nathaniel Cribley-Cotto.

The Trojans were even helped by a Godwin Heights player who scooped up a fumble on the opening kickoff of the game, but ran into the wrong end zone, giving Fruitport two charity points.

But Godwin Heights kept answering with scores of its own, and the Trojans kept shooting themselves in the foot with lots of penalties at key moments.

The biggest came with 3:56 left to play, when Fruitport held a 30-28 lead and the ball. They had a third-and three, and a first down would have iced the win, but a holding penalty negated a first down play and the Trojans ended up punting with 1:21 remaining.

That led to the final field goal that sealed the Trojans’ fate.

“This game was equally as frustrating as last year, but in different ways,” Coach Smith said. “We made some mistakes down the stretch that really cost us.”

Winning record, chance at playoffs still at stake

The loss was Fruitport’s second in a row, following three straight wins, and a costly lone. Fruitport is now 3-4 overall with two games remaining, at Holland on Friday night and at Hopkins a week from Friday.

Both games will be against teams that have lost their share, as well, so the Trojans will have a real chance to win out, secure two more victories than they had last year, and perhaps even still have a chance at a postseason playoff spot.

Fruitport has some smaller schools on its schedule, which doesn’t help in terms of playoff points, but it’s fairly common for some 5-4 teams to sneak in every year.

“Going into the last two weeks, that’s the message – mathematically we still have a chance for the playoffs, we’re still alive, and we have a chance for a winning record,” Smith said.

The game at Holland should give Fruitport a good chance to right the ship and win its fourth game of the season. The Trojans will also have the chance to avenge another frustrating loss from last year, when they fell 27-23 in a back-and-forth game against the Dutch.

Holland is reeling a bit at the moment, with five straight losses.

The Dutch opened the season with victories over Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills and South Haven, but have since lost to Holland Christian, Comstock Park, Belding, Godwin Heights and Hopkins last Friday by a score of 45-0.

Holland has given up a ton of points along the way – 40 to Holland Christian, 56 to Comstock Park, 60 to Belding, 49 to Godwin Heights and 45 to Hopkins.

Fruitport, meanwhile, has scored at least 30 points in four of its past five games. If the Trojans’ high-powered offense can keep that going, a much-needed victory could come their way.

The key could rest with the Trojan defense, which has performed very well at times this season. Holland has scored at least 20 points in five of its seven games, and goes to the air to make things happen, according to Coach Smith.

“They throw the ball a lot and try to get it to their athletes in space,” he said. “It’s going to be another challenging game for us, but for the last couple of weeks we have been playing teams like that, so the guys are more comfortable with it, and I expect us to play well.”