Hamilton football unleashes 'monster' to race to 3-0 with win over Fruitport
FRUITPORT - Hamilton football coach Phil Koops loves to hear his team sing the school fight song at the top of their lungs on Friday nights. That’s because the Hawkeyes only do it when the team wins.
“We haven’t done it a lot in the past few years,” Koops said. “They’ll screw up a few of the middle verses. But we’re getting better.”
Ben Boehm had five rushing touchdowns as Hamilton beat Fruitport 44-20 on Friday night to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2016.
“It feels great,” quarterback Justin McIllwain said. “Last year we were 2-0 and riding pretty high. But when the O-K Blue season started, we got it handed to us. So it feels good to come here and beat up on Fruitport. They beat up on us last year and ran up the score, so it feels good to come here and get the win.”
Sprint speed helps Hamilton's Ben Boehm
Boehm, Hamilton’s senior running back, is an elite sprinter during the track season. He runs the 100 yard dash, an event he finished sixth at in the state meet.
Has he thought about running the 100 yards on the football field, too?
“My biggest run was 75 yards in our last game (against St. Johns),” Boehm said. “So I’m getting there. I thought about it today. Toward the end of the game, if I could get a pick (on defense) in the end zone and run it all the way back for 100 yards. That’s my dream. That would be sweet.”
Boehm has a stunning 13 touchdowns in just three games for the Hawkeyes.
“Ben’s a dude,” Koops said. “I haven’t coached a lot of guys like Ben. He looks different. He’s built different. There were some times where we didn’t block great and he ran right through people.”
Boehm had runs of 7, 31, 61, 11 and 18 on Friday night. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
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“Ben’s a monster,” McIllwain said. “He’s levels ahead of anyone we’ve seen. I don’t know if we’ll ever see another kid like him. He’s an absolute freak. He’s tearing it up.”
Boehm said he hasn’t had any college offers yet, but he is going on a visit this weekend.
The passing game looks good, too
McIllwain threw a 40-yard bomb down field that was just out of the fingers of a diving Logan O’Connor in the first quarter. If he can hit on those plays, Hamilton will be scary.
“I had a big one to Londin Cooper in the Plainwell game,” McIllwain said. “But we haven’t hit another huge one yet. We had one almost in the wide receivers hands and a few more that were close. Those guys are athletes. Just keep putting it up for ‘em and they’ll come down with a few.”
Keaton Haverdink, Londin Cooper and Lincoln Phillips are big weapons for the Hawkeyes.
“Me and Keaton have been playing football our whole lives,” McIllwain said. “I’ve been throwing the ball to him for a long time. We definitely have a connection.”
Scoring plays
Boehm scored on a 7-yard run to open the scoring. McIllwain scored on the 2-point conversion. Haverdink ran the ball 42 yards for a score and McIllwain ran the ball for two more to make it 16-0 with 4:59 to go. Boehm capped the scoring in the first quarter with a 31-yard run with 1:35 left. He would then score on the PAT to make it 24-0.
In the second quarter, Boehm had a 61-yard run with 8:35 left. The PAT failed. With 8:31 left, Fruitport fumbled the ball at their own 32-yard line, which was recovered by Ben Sharp. A few plays later, Boehm ran the ball in from 11 yards. The pass attempt on the PAT failed, making it 36-0. Fruitport scored on an 11-yard catch by Bobby Canfield with 3:48 left to make it 36-6 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Boehm scored his fifth touchdown of the game on an 18-yard run. Haverdink ran the ball in on the PAT at the 1:21 mark to make it 44-6.
The Hamilton starters did not play in the fourth quarter. Fruitport would get a 25-yard touchdown catch by Kayden Beardsley with 3:30 left and a 24-yard run by quarterback Brandon Dornbos with 1:17 left.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hamilton football beats Fruitport, unleashes 'monster' to race to 3-0
