FRUITPORT – A good football team finds a way to win, even when things are not going exactly as planned.

That’s the part that Fruitport head coach Nate Smith like about last week’s 32-20 season-opening win over Kenowa Hills.

The Trojans, who beat the Knights 42-2 a year ago, were clinging to a 12-6 halftime lead, then fell behind for a moment in the third quarter.

But the Trojans dug deep, thanks largely to a pair of 54-yard touchdown runs by Paschal Jolman, and pulled out the win.

“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a few times, so to finish the game like that was huge for us,” Smith said. “We faced some adversity and stayed positive the whole time. We were amped up the whole time, and we were making mistakes that were caused by being too amped up. We needed to take a deep breath and calm down, and we were much better in the second half.

“Being a veteran team was a huge part of that. These guys have played in their share of big games. We had to win last year to get in the playoffs, so pressure is nothing new to them.”

Several Trojans turned in strong performances in the Week 1 victory. Paschal Jolman led the Trojans with 190 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries while Collin Jolman completed 9 of 16 passes for 138 yards.

Collin Jolman also had 108 yards and one touchdown on two carries while Cody Nash totaled 87 yards on three catches.

Nash led the defense with eight tackles while Andrew J. Fielstra had seven.

Collin Jolman’s performance in his first game as the starting quarterback got a thumbs-up from Smith.

“He played very well,” the coach said. “Even when he didn’t do certain things correctly, he knew right away, and as a coach you love to see that. He will continue to make strides. He led the team well.”

Smith was wise enough to expect a tough game from the improved Knights last week, despite the lobsided outcome of the 2021 game.

That’s why he is also being cautious about Thursday’s matchup with Grand Rapids Christian, despite how that team fared in Week 1.

GR Christian, ranked in the top 20 in an all-division preseason state poll, was clobbered 42-7 by Grand Rapids South Christian.

That might tell some observers that the Eagles were overrated. It tells Smith that they just had a bad game and will be extra hungry for victory on Thursday.

“South Christian is really good,” Smith said. “(GR Christian) ran into a juggernaut of a team. But watching film, you can tell that they are very good. They’ve got some backs, and their quarterback is very good. They actually played pretty well last week. A few things just didn’t go their way.”

A quick look at GR Christian’s history tells you how good the Eagles can be. They’ve qualified for the state playoffs for 12 years in a row, which is exactly why Fruitport put the Eagles on the schedule.

“We want to play the best competition we can find,” Smith said. “It’s another opportunity to know what playoff football is like. It will be a good game, another quality football game. They are going to be hungry and ticked, because they just lost a rivalry game, and it will be a hostile environment for us.”