FRUITPORT – The Fruitport football players seem amazingly able to shrug off their harsh losses, and there’s apparently a reason for that.
Head coach John Shipley and his staff make sure they keep their eyes strictly focused on the road ahead, and their attention completely dialed in to their own improvement.
There’s no point in worrying about spilled milk, or about how good an upcoming opponent might be, according to Shipley. The idea is to keep the Trojans on a constant trajectory of daily improvement, and the rest will take care of itself, he said.
Everyone knows about the Trojans’ two heartbreaking losses in the final minute of games they could have easily won, against a pair of really good conference opponents – Hopkins in Week 1 and Belding in Week 3.
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[2]Everyone knows that instead of being 2-2 right now, the Trojans could easily be 4-0 and flying high into the second part of the season.
But now everyone recognizes that bitter losses don’t seem to define the Trojans, or keep them down for very long at all.
After losing to Hopkins on a last-minute pick-six, they bounced right back the next week with a big win over a dangerous Godwin Heights team. After the loss to Belding, that came on a stunning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining, they rebounded last Friday and gutted out a 21-3 win over Allendale.
Shipley refers to the team’s mental approach as a “ belief in the unknown” – meaning you never really know what an opponent with throw at you, or what circumstances will come your way.
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[4]The trick is to keep the focus on the next day’s work, and the challenge of constant improvement.
If the players keep doing that, day-to-day and week-to-week, they will be prepared for pretty much anything, and will be able to play with anybody. With that knowledge comes a growing sense of confidence, and confidence brings a better chance of success, according to Shipley.
“We truly believe we can play with anyone on any night,” the coach said. “That comes from living it every single day, knowing there are always places to grow, and when you constantly grow you are building confidence.
“It’s about diving into that place and putting all the work in. All you can focus on is the job and task at hand. It’s about living in that unknown space, and relying on your work and your ability to get better every day. The kids have done a great job of living that, knowing that preparation is the constant key.”
Kelloggsville on Homecoming
With that philosophy, it doesn’t make too much of a difference who the next opponent is, because the Trojans’ goal every week is to just be the best Trojans they can be.
But just for the record, they will be hosting Kelloggsville on Friday in their Homecoming game, which is also another O-K Silver contest.
Kelloggsville is also 2-2 on the season, and has shown the ability to score a lot of points, but also give up a lot.
The Rockets opened the season with a painful 60-20 loss to Belding, then rebounded to beat Laingsburg 43-26 in Week 2. They followed up with a 28-14 victory over Calvin Christian, before falling 26-14 to Holland last Friday.
Kelloggsville is under the direction of first-year (and former Montague) head coach Justin Dennett, who has been trying to help the team overcome the loss of 12 seniors to graduation.
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[6]The Rockets focus heavily on their ground game, which is spearheaded by senior quarterback Davion Whitfield and senior running back Isaak Kowal, according to media reports.
The Trojans have owned Kelloggsville in the two years the teams have been meeting as O-K Silver opponents. Fruitport beat the Rockets 49-8 last year and 40-14 in 2025.
“They are running a new offense this year under a new head coach who does a really good job,” Shipley said about Kelloggsville. “They are a ground-and-pound team with a really good back who they want to feature a lot, with maybe not as much passing as they did last year.
“They have some athletes, speed and size. They are a team that can hurt you. We just have to stay focused and disciplined. There are a lot of distractions on Homecoming week, so our focus in practice will be a big key.
“We get ready for every opponent with the same type of preparation.”
Defense comes through yet again
It wasn’t so long ago that defensive play was a liability for Fruitport, but that certainly hasn’t been the case this season.
Over the past three weeks, the Trojans have held two very high-octane offensive teams, Godwin Heights and Belding, to 16 and 19 points, respectively, and last week held Allendale to just three points.
Against Allendale, the bend-but-not-break defense did its best work with critical fourth-down stops.
On Allendale’s opening possession, the Falcons drove from their own 38 into Fruitport territory but turned the ball over with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-seven.
In the third quarter Allendale drove to the Fruitport 23, but failed to convert again, this time on a fourth-and-four play.
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[8]The Falcons drove to the Trojan 19 early in the fourth quarter, but Fruitport defensive back Elijah Barry broke up a fourth down pass to end the 12-play possession without points.
Fruitport delivered another defensive stand late in the fourth quarter when Allendale reached the Trojan 32. Mason DeVries broke up the second-down pass, Brylan Houston broke up the third-down pass, and an incomplete throw ended the threat.
Allendale’s final possession ended when Fruitport’s Gideon Marksburty recovered a fumble with 1:05 left in the game
“Our defensive coaching staff had a great game plan going in, and the boys did a great job of executing it,” Shipley said. “They did a great job of forcing them to try to finish drives, and coming up with some big stops.
“It’s just about trusting in the game plan, taking it play-by-play and staying focused. With fourth down plays can come high anxiety, but we managed to play with emotion without becoming emotional.”
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