Despite 18 penalties, Purcell was able to come out with a victory in its season opening football contest last Friday night at Conger Field.

The Dragons cruised past rival Lindsay, 29-6, but left the field with a little bit of a sour taste in their mouths.

“We had 18 penalties for 133 yards, including 30 on one play,” head coach Aaron Dillard said. “We felt like we left some points on the field.”

In fact, they did after Cash Cook returned the second half opening kick off back for a touchdown. That score was nullified due to a holding call.

The good news was they won the game even playing five freshmen on meaningful snaps.

Junior linemen Wyatt Downing and Drew Pearson both left the game with injuries and their status is up in the air.

“It was a physical game,” head coach Aaron Dillard said. “Of course it always is with those guys.”

Junior running back Liam Cummings got the scoring started on a one yard plunge in the opening quarter.

After a 29-yard Cru Venegas field goal, Cooper Selman stepped in front of a Leopard pass and lugged the pigskin 86 yards to the north end zone putting the Dragons up to a comfortable 16-0 lead at halftime.

Lindsay got on the board for a touchdown in the fourth period but the Dragons tacked on a 38 yard Cash Cook scoring scamper and a one-yard Braylon Francis plunge handing Purcell an opening game victory.

Dillard was pleased with his team other than the penalties.

“It is actually harder to find someone who didn’t play well than who did,” he said. “We had a large number of guys that had their best career games in a Dragon uniform including Cooper Selman, Cash Cook, Carter Thomas, Liam Cummings, Brody Walkup and Matt Hall.

“We had a lot of guys that played extremely well,” Dillard continued. “I was proud of our two sophomore quarterbacks making their first career start or seeing varsity action.

“Easton Resendiz and JJ Hitchcock played really well. They took the team for long drives for points.”

Dillard pointed to the play of Taizen Hernandez for his down field blocking and the line play up front from Cannan Haynes, Halo DiRienzo and Brian Cazares.

“Aside from the false starts, they gave us a chance,” the coach said.

“I felt like we set the tone early with a long offensive drive and a score. They ran four plays in the first quarter, three for negative yards and one an interception for a touchdown,” Dillard said.

Hitchcock also had an interception in the contest and he wasn’t alone playing well defensively.

“I thought every unit on defense played well,” Dillard said. “The defensive line, linebackers, the secondary. Carter Thomas and Brody Walkup were incredible on the edge. And our three linebackers, Liam Cummings, JJ and Braylon Francis all played well.

“I thought Liam had his best game at linebacker I’ve seen since I’ve been here. And, the secondary was absolutely dialed in,” he said of Cooper Selman, Cash Cook, Ethan Colburn and Layton Percey.

Dragon notes:

Head coach Aaron Dillard nominated Cash Cook as the Offensive Player of the Week. Cook averaged 11 yards a carry on four carries for 44 yards and scored on a 38 yard run.

Dillard nominated Cooper Selman as the Defensive Player of the Week. Selman had four tackles and took an 86 yard interception to the house.

Getting the nod as the Offensive Lineman of the Week was Brian Cazares, who graded out at 83 percent.

The coach nominated Carter Thomas as the Defensive Lineman of the Week for his four tackles against Lindsay.

Purcell has this Friday night off after playing in Week 0.

They had a junior varsity game at Konawa penciled in but lack of depth forced them to cancel the game.