FRUITPORT — After three straight road games, it was clear the Fruitport football team was ready to get back in front of its home fans, to show how much the team has grown since its last home game way back in Week 1.
The Trojans, playing in front of a packed Homecoming crowd, dominated on both sides of the ball en route to a 42-0 win over Kelloggsville in an O-K Silver conference contest.
The Trojans had two players rush for over 100 yards and forced six Rocket turnovers.
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The victory marks the first home win at Doc Pierce Field for first-year Trojan coach John Shipley.
“It’s been almost a whole month on the road. It was great,” Shipley said. “I was proud of the way the guys played. We had a good week of preparation. I’m just proud of the way they were able to stay locked in and focused during Homecoming week with so many distractions.”
Fruitport leaned on a strong and consistent rushing attack Friday night. The Trojans completed just one pass, which did go for a touchdown, but rushed a total of 33 times for 288 yards and five touchdowns.
“It all starts up front for us,” Shipley said, crediting offensive line coach Devin Eekhoff. “One of our areas that we’ve been most improved in is the offensive line. I’m proud of those guys. We’re going to keep grinding, keep getting better week in and week out and keep trying to get the ball to our playmakers.”
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Senior Josh Eppard led the way with 14 carries for 117 yards and a TD, followed closely by Liam Campbell with 12 carries for 111 yards and three Tds.
Not to be outdone, the Trojan defense built on several recent strong efforts to force a slew of turnovers and shut out the Rockets. The Trojans had three interceptions — from Brady Hanson, Owen Doctor and Brayden Scraver — and recovered three Rocket fumbles, including one on a muffed punt.
Bryson Cena, Ashten Kemp and Elijah Barry came up with the fumble recoveries.
Shipley said defensive coordinator Jason Durham and the staff have done a great job preparing the unit.
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“The physicality that they’re playing with and the tackling, they’re doing a great job with that week in and week out,” Shipley said. “They do a great job working at creating those turnovers, too. Ripping the ball out, punching the ball out, recovering it, playing to the whistle.”
After alternating wins and loses in the first month of the season, the Trojans now have back-to-back wins and are 3-2 on the season.
“It feels good, it definitely makes you feel like that hard work and preparation has paid off,” Shipley said. “Just approach each opponent the same and try to go 1-0, that’s our mindset. We’ve got another good opponent next week coming to town and we’ve got to get back to work this weekend.”
Fruitport scored first on a 1-yard TD run by Campbell in the first quarter. Eppard added a 9-yard score in the second, and Fruitport led 14-0 at halftime.
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A 35-yard TD run by Campbell and a 22-yard pass from Hanson to Doctor extended the lead to 28-0 after three. Campbell added a third TD, this one a 30-yarder, and Brylan Houston capped things off with a 35-yard rushing score to make it 42-0.
Ethan Deephouse was 6-for-6 on extra points.
Johnnie Kempker, Mason DeVries and Colton Smith were leading tacklers for the Trojan defense, while Alan Jackson added a quarterback sack.
Fruitport will host Holland next week in another O-K Silver clash. The Dutch are also 3-2, and have won three consecutive games.
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