FRUITPORT – It’s hard to imagine a team starting a game off better than the Fruitport Trojans did on Friday night, in a homecoming matchup with Comstock Park.

After going three-and-out on its opening drive, the Fruitport offense caught fire in the first quarter. The Trojans scored four touchdowns in less than three minutes of game action and led 29-0 before all of the fans had found their seats.

The hot start gave way to some unease a bit later in the game, when the offense suddenly had a turnover attack and coughed the ball up six times, but the early advantage was enough to propel the Trojans to a 35-14 victory in O-K Silver conference action.

The victory sets the Trojans up for a showdown for first place in the O-K Silver next week at home against Belding. The Black Knights are 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference while Fruitport is 3-2 and 2-0.

“We know when we make the right decisions, the right adjustments and our kids play hard, we’re going to pop some plays,” said Fruitport head coach Nate Smith. “We expected to play well tonight with the way we worked all week, but I don’t think anybody expected the first quarter to go like that.”

Fruitport has now won three straight games, something that hasn’t happened since the team rattled off six straight victories from Week 5 through the first round of the playoffs in 2022.

It’s also the first time since 2022 that the Trojans have had a winning record.

“Last year we were in a position to make this happen, and I think we got a little full of ourselves and we weren’t able to execute in a few games that got away from us,” Smith said. “We’ve talked about that.

“A lot of these guys were on that team and played a lot of minutes in those games. They know we can’t have games like that. They came out incredibly focused tonight, and that was what you saw in the first quarter.”

Fruitport scored first on a 54-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brady Hanson to DayDay Williams, who broke several tackles before finding the end zone. Hanson ran in a conversion to make it 8-0 with 7:08 left in the first quarter.

Fruitport’s Colton Smith forced a Panther fumble two plays later, and Blair Zimmer recovered, putting the offense back in business. Three plays later, Hanson connected with Williams again for a 23-yard TD pass, and the PAT made it 15-0.

Fruitport’s next drive lasted just one play. Sophomore Liam Campbell broke free for a 64-yard touchdown run, and Josh Eppard ran in the conversion, making the score 23-0.

On the next Comstock Park drive, Fruitport’s Bryson Simila forced a fumble, which was recovered by David Johnson-Jimenez. The Trojans again capitalized when Hanson found Zimmer for a 17-yard touchdown pass to make it 29-0 with 4:17 still left in the first quarter.

It would be another 10 drives before Fruitport scored again, however.

The Trojans’ ensuing possessions went like this – missed field goal, interception, interception, lost fumble, end of half, lost fumble, three-and-out, lost fumble and interception. They finally scored again with 6:27 left in the game, after Comstock Park started to rally.

Three Fruitport turnovers came in the first half, and it was up to the defense to keep the Panthers off the scoreboard.

Kalan Teeter forced and recovered a fumble, then the Trojans forced a turnover on downs after the Panthers drove the ball to the Fruitport one-yard-line.

The score remained 29-0 at halftime.

The first points of the second half came on a defensive touchdown for Comstock Park. A Panther defender recovered a fumble, the fifth Trojan turnover at that point, and ran it back 20 yards for a score, making it 29-6 with 2:11 left in the third.

Fruitport threw an interception on the next play from scrimmage, and the Comstock Park offense responded with its lone scoring drive. The Panthers ran 11 plays covering 63 yards before scoring on a one-yard run, plus a two-point conversion, to make the score 29-14.

It looked like Fruitport was going to go three-and-out again on its next drive, but the Panthers were flagged for roughing the kicker on the punt, giving the Trojans new life. They took full advantage, eventually scoring on a 35-yard run by Campbell, bringing the score to 35-14 with 6:27 to play.

Fruitport’s defense forced one more punt, and the offense ran out the clock to close out the win.

Coach Smith had high praise for his defense, which was locked in all night against a Panther offense that throws the ball often — and scored 56 points last week.

“My hat goes off again to our defensive staff and our defensive players,” Smith said. “They were put in stress all night long. I think part of what (the Panthers) do is try to get you rattled. Our guys stayed focused and did a really good job.”

Hanson was 7-for-13 passing for 165 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Williams was his top receiver with five catches for 130 yards and two scores.

Campbell led the rushing attack with 10 carries for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Eppard had 54 yards on 10 rushes.

Teeter led the defense with eight tackles. Easton Fett and Alan Jackson had five stops each, while Mason DeVries, Zimmer, Williams and Johnson-Jimenez all had four.

Simila was a key player in the secondary, breaking up several passes.