**ARTICLE BY LIEN VELDBOOM**
The unthinkable happened Friday night when the West Catholic Falcons took on the Fruitport Trojans. The Falcons looked to be ruling the OK Blue winning every game by at least 14 points. The Trojans were 2-2 in league play after suffering losses against Unity Christian and Coopersville, two strong competitors in the conference. Fruitport was able to survive West Catholic’s final push in the fourth to hand the Falcons their first loss of the 2022 season. The final result was 28-20.
It was the Jolman brothers who led the Trojans to this outstanding performance. Together, they accounted for 3 touchdowns. The first one came from Colin Jolman who completed a quarterback draw for 36-yards. This was followed by Colin Jolman finding his brother Paschal Jolman for a 33-yard pass into the endzone. At the end of the second half, West Catholic was able to make it a 5-point game after 2 failed 2-point conversions from the Trojans. Bernie Varnesdeel was able to successfully find Carter Perry with the screen followed by a 72-yard sprint to the house.
The Falcons took the lead in the 3rd quarter when Tim Kloska scored his first 6 points of the game off a 7-yard weave between the Fruitport defense. This lead didn’t last long when the Trojans responded with 2 touchdowns of their own. The first came from Cody Nash off a 66-yard dash down the field, and the next from Paschal Jolman on the ground.
It looked like Fruitport was running away with the game in the fourth, when Caleb Clinger picked off Colin Jolman and ran it 25-yards for a pick-six. After a successful PAT, it was an 8-point game with enough time for the Falcons to tie it up. The Trojans were able to stop them, however, and get the win.
After this tough loss, the West Catholic Falcons will look to regroup quickly as they face the Coopersville Broncos. They are currently 5-2 and had a strong performance against the Allendale Falcons. The Trojans will be on the road next week in Hamilton who are still looking for their first win within the OK Blue.
