Purcell scored early and often in last Friday night’s 55-0 victory over the visiting Lexington Bulldogs at Conger Field.

Junior Cooper Selman kicked off the scoring parade scampering in for a touchdown on a 35 yard run on the first offensive snap for the Dragons.

After holding the Bulldogs, the Dragons got the ball back and senior Oscar Wren hauled in a 21 yard scoring strike off the arm of senior quarterback Deaken Dobbins.

To round out the first quarter scoring, junior Braylon Francis dove in from two yards out giving the Dragons a 21-0 lead heading into the second frame.

Junior Paul Glorius, an exchange student from Germany, wrapped his mits around a Dobbins pass of 25 yards to open the second quarter scoring.

Cash Cook returned a punt 45 yards for a touchdown and Dobbins used his legs for a 17-yard scoring scamper.

Junior running back Matt Hall scored on runs of two yards in the third period and four yards out in the fourth stanza to round out the scoring.

Glorius booted seven of eight points after touchdowns with one attempt blocked.

“Overall, our offense continues to get better, head coach Aaron Dillard said. “We had seven different guys score so we’re getting a lot of production from a lot of guys. “And scoring on special teams always helps.”

The Dragons finished with 304 yards rushing along with 46 passing. Dobbins was 2-2 throwing the pigskin.

“Deaken really played well at quarterback,” Dillard said. “Our offense is well rounded, which is a good thing to be. It makes it difficult to stop you.”

Hall finished with 56 yards rushing just a smidgen ahead of Francis, who finished with 52 yards on the ground.

Dillard had high praise for his offensive line.

“They all played well up front,” the coach confirmed. “Kaden Pliler at center, like always, played well. And, our guards, Dylan Smith and Halo DiRienzo played well and so did our tackles, Brian Cazares and Aron Barrera.

“Liam Cummings did some good things at running back,” Dillard continued. “He broke a lot of tackles and ran the ball hard.”

Dillard said any time you pitch a shutout you’re pretty happy defensively.

“We made some changes that were beneficial for us,” the coach confirmed. “We moved Carter Bennett to inside linebacker and he had a phenomenal game.

“He impacted the play all night. I’m really proud  of how he played,” Dillard said.

“In the D line, Landon Clarke was all over the place. Dylan Smith played well. He had a big sack on fourth down one time. Our linebackers are getting better,” the coach continued. “Braylon Francis and Liam Cummings are improving and our secondary did a great job.”

Dillard was referring of the play of Paul Glorius and Braylon Francis, both of whom snagged interceptions off errant Bulldog passes.

“Braylon dropped underneath on a skinny post pattern and got the pick and Cooper Selman had a fantastic night. Deaken Dobbins, Cash Cook, Carlos Laura...all those guys played well.”

Up next is No. 6 Plainview, who are 2-1 losing in overtime last week at the hands of Davis.

“They are really good like they usually are,” Dillard assessed of the Indians.

“They had their chances to win,” the coach continued. “They are still big and athletic but their identity has changed a little.

“They just want to run the ball downhill at you,” Dillard said. “They have a lot of tight ends and they use an H back. It will be a challenge to stop their run game.”

Kick off for the beginning of district play is at 7 p.m.

The coach said the key defensively is to prevent big plays.

“If we can make them string together long 10 and 12 play drives it’ll make it harder on them. They like to hit home runs. We’ve got to tackle them.

“They’ve got some players that are electric in space. They will use a lot of motions and shifts which will make it important for us to get in the right gaps and get lined up properly.”

Dillard said the key offensively is to keep getting better and better. Last week we were better at limiting penalties and finishing drives. We’ve just got to do it again against a better opponent,” Dillard concluded.

Dragon notes:

Head coach Aaron Dillard nominated senior center Kaden Pliler as the Offensive Lineman of the Week. Pliler graded out at 90 percent against Lexington.

The Offensive Player of the Week nominee was Cooper Selman. Selman rushed two times for 57 yards (28.5 yards per carry) and a touchdown.

Dillard nominated Paul Glorius as the Defensive Player of the Week. Glorius made five tackles and had an interception.

The Defensive Lineman of the Week nominee was Landon Clarke, who made 10 tackles including two tackles for loss.