Miller Roskam

The JV team celebrating their win over the FHN huskies

The Class of 2028 football team had a rough start to their high school journey in 2024 as a freshman team, but have quickly found themselves in success as a JV team. Now they find themselves at 4-0 and look to improve to 5-0 with a game at Unity Christian this Thursday.

But what makes this JV team’s success somewhat surprising? The team has been on the road for 3 straight weeks and is now on the road for week 5, meaning to start their season 4-0, they faced three teams in their own stadiums and didn’t just win but absolutely dominated them. The team even started a half at Portage Central down 8-22, and proceeded to outscore them 29 points to 0 in the second half for a 37-22 win in Kalamazoo. The improvements this team has made are great, and will only hope to continue. They were able to keep their minds in the game largely because teammates like Kellen Paul, the quarterback, and Luke Lobbezoo, a Tackle on the Offensive line, kept them in focus..

“We never saw it as we were down,” Luke Lobbezoo said, “We just focused on the next half and kept pushing until we were up by 16.”

“Our passing and running game has improved largely due to the offensive line getting better,” Kellen said. “They kept on sticking to their techniques and doing their 1/11 to help the team win.”

The team has also improved physically as they follow a tough, rigorous strength and conditioning program all summer. Led by teachers and coaches from the FHC staff, which not only builds their strength in their bodies but also their mental toughness and willingness to do what’s hard and what’s best for the team. With the hard work of members of the offensive line, including Lincoln Tompkins, Jaxson Chopp, and all the people who led the workouts in the summer, they will.

“I feel the conditioning portion helps the most because when it’s late in the game and we need to keep battling, our stamina doesn’t fade, and we can keep our intensity up and drive play after play and dominate,” said Chopp.

“I feel like we are the most conditioned team, and we have the best stamina, which helps us get ahead later in the game,” said Tompkins.

The team has had a particular liking for the run game with 4 power running backs, including. Collin Grupe, Judah Slendebroek, along with Ian Reitzenstein and Austin Rutherford. They combine to make a consistent spread of power, speed, and agility. As seen in the game versus Reeths-Puffer, on the second play, Collin Grupe ran for a 56-yard touchdown. With the array of running backs this team has, the options are endless for this team, and they look to make it a problem for the teams on the rest of their schedule.

“I feel our offensive line allows our run game to be very successful and win, whereas other teams might fail,” said Chopp.

On the defensive side of the ball, this team has gotten very disciplined, especially versus the wing-t or flat-t teams. They have expressed their ability to stick to their keys and fill their gaps. Due to the success of squeezing and spilling for players like Miller Roskam, Ethan Appie, in the game versus Portage Central, the Rangers once into the second half, the Rangers shut down the flat t and shut out the Mustangs fully in the third and fourth quarter.

“Our defense is very sound, and when we all do our part, we become a very successful team. Also, I think our new D-line coach helps us a lot because he never allows us to take plays off, is always persistent, and every drill we do at practice helps us in the games,” said Roskam. “I think coming off a 0-6 season, it was very important to improve our defense and improve how motivated we are to stop the ball, not just score. I fully believe defense wins games for our team. It’s been really important to keep the other team from scoring and to keep a big score deficit. Winning every game has been on account of the defense and our ability to stop the ball.”

This team has also displayed a more mature ability to keep disciplined and do their part for the team, and try to improve every day. As the head coach for the entire football program, Dave Fortino says almost every day at the practices, “Let’s get 1% better today.”

This team has had a great start to their season, and with their proven skill and talents. Along with the determination of a team that had no wins last season, they are striving to go the distance and prove everyone wrong. And leave everything on the field to do their parts to win the game. There is no telling how good this team could be, nor how far they will go in the years to come.

And just as Coach Sultini says after a win on Thursday nights, “Put a d on the end of prove because tonight you guys proved it.”