Edwardsburg High School junior Ben Robertson is very active athletically. He plays football, basketball and baseball at the school.

But for Robertson, there’s something that separates football from those other sports.

“The fans are all in it,” said Robertson. “There’s a lot more excitement.”

Robertson appreciates playing football even more this year because he got a late start playing.

The 6-foot, 175-pounder, who plays running back, defensive back and linebacker, separated his shoulder during two-a-days in August.

“I got hurt the third day into camp with no pads two weeks before school starter,” Robertson said. “I just happened to trip over my pulling guard and I landed on my shoulder. I finished out the practice and then the trainer told me I shouldn’t have finished out the practice.”

Robertson was told by his doctor that he would be out for six weeks. He was a quick healer and was out for five and returned for the Vicksburg game on Sept. 12.

“I was pretty happy about that,” Robertson said. “We have a new trainer (Kara Werner) this year and she really helped me get into the conditioning and get ready to go.”

Edwardsburg football coach Kevin Bartz thought Robertson played much better in his second game back last Friday against Plainwell. A game won by Eddies, 24-22.

“He was lot more aggressive (against Plainwell),” said Bartz. “(Against Vicksburg), he’d be the first to tell you he looked really rusty making tackles. (Against Plainwell) his head was up an he was coming off of blocks. We needed movement (defensively) and he did that for us.

“He’ll get better and better each game and watch film and make adjustments.”

Key plays were in abundance for Robertson last Friday.

He forced a fumble that stopped a Plainwell drive deep into Edwardsburg territory in the second quarter.

Robertson caught a 26-yard touchdown pass (his first catch of the year) from Dante Razzano, which gave the Eddies a 16-15 lead with 2:30 left in the second quarter.

Robertson also caught a two-point conversion pass from Razzano, which gave the hosts a 24-15 lead with 10:01 left in the game.

Robertson rushed for 33 yards on nine carries, including a four-yard run on a 3rd-and-3 play during Edwardsburg’s final drive which ran out the clock.

“I was a lot more comfortable,” Robertson said. “Coach (Bartz) really helped me. He gave me reps and got me ready to go.”

Robertson was happiest the most about getting the win over Plainwell. Edwardsburg, which stands at 3-1, was coming off of a 16-14 loss to Vicksburg.

“It’s a great bounce back win,” Robertson said. “It will give us come confidence going up against Paw Paw (on Friday). They’re a very good team.”