Purcell leads SHP win in first varsity start

Purcell delivered on his coach’s promise as Sacred Heart Prep opened the season with a comfortable 28-7 win over Carlmont Saturday afternoon at Palatella Field. The junior quarterback was spot-on, completing his first seven passes of the season en route to a 14-of-17 day for 258 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought he was great with the football,” Grieb said. “I think that’s the No. 1 thing with a quarterback is making good decisions and not turning the ball over. It was more than that. He was accurate down the field; he was consistent hitting open guys. But, to be honest, it’s no different than I see every day in practice.”

As a junior-varsity starter last season, Purcell received a varsity call-up in Week 10 and took over for the second half against Menlo in the rivalry Valpo Bowl. Entering amid a lopsided score, all the Gators did with Purcell under center was run. He threw just one pass in that game, his only pass of the season, for a two-yard completion.

Stepping onto the field for Saturday’s opener, his nerves were worked up to the point where he had trouble getting his vocal chords to cooperate as he called out to the offense to hike the first snap.

“I definitely felt nervous going in,” Purcell said. “Of course I was nervous all morning. I definitely wanted to come out and play hard for my guys because we’ve worked so hard for this. A lot goes on my shoulders. So, to have everyone play so well and to have a game like this, it means a lot.”

The Gators stuck to the ground game for a majority of their first drive. Of the eight plays they ran before fumbling the ball inside the red zone, six of them were run plays. The two pass plays were something to see though — a 20-yard shot to senior Bryant Gavello to push past midfield, then an 18-yarder to senior Wilson Weisel to advance to the 25.

Two plays later, SHP coughed the ball up. But a statement three-and-out defensive stand to get the ball back on a punt at the Carlmont 38 set the stage for Purcell’s breakout performance.

On the first play of the drive, SHP senior Dante Cacchione burned a defender in a 1-on-1 matchup to get wide open on a fly route over the middle. Purcell lofted up a perfect pass and — Bingo! — the Gators were on the board in 2019.

“A sudden change,” Grieb said of going to air. “I like to take a chance down the field. And, I thought the way they were covering us we had it. And it was just a matter of taking advantage of that.”

Carlmont had trouble moving the ball all afternoon. The Scots — who won the “C” league Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division last year to move up to the Ocean Division in 2019 — clearly were out of their league against “A” league, Bay Division contender SHP.

In the first half, Carlmont managed just 40 yards of offense. There was less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter when the Scots earned their first first-down.

“It was brutal,” Carlmont head coach Jake Messina said. “We just couldn’t get it right up front.”

The Scots scrimmaged against a West Catholic Athletic League power in Valley Christian the previous week, suffering key injuries to senior left guard Nabeeh Shamieh and junior cornerback Sean McKenna, both of whom were unavailable Saturday.

Still, Messina said he had no regrets about scheduling a non-league game against an SHP team that finished second place in the Bay Division last year, citing his insistence on playing “A” and “B” league caliber talent.

“We want to play high B’s and A’s because that’s who we want to be,” Messina said.

After jumping ahead 7-0 midway through the first quarter, SHP chopped down the tree with a balanced attack.

Junior running back Tevita Moimoi carried 11 times for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Gavello upped the lead to 14-0 at the start of the second quarter with an 8-yard score. Moimoi sewed up the day with scores of 25 with 1:59 remaining in the first half, and a seven-yard jaunt with 4:56 remaining in the third.

“It’s definitely important to have a guy like Tevita,” Purcell said. “He’s the best player on the field every game, I think. He’s an amazing athlete and he’s a great leader for the team. To be able to give it to him … third down, he’s going to get that first down every time. He’s a beast.”

SHP finished with 428 total yards of offense to Carlmont’s 119.

Carlmont got on the board to start the fourth quarter, when quarterback Timothy Netane capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive with a 32-yard pass to Si’i Tengi.

On defense, though, Carlmont saw Tengi at linebacker and safety Matt Vo eot some blitzing pressure on Purcell. But SHP’s new quarterback was unwavering.

Purcell took a solid hit from Vo just after releasing a pass on the first play of the second quarter. The result though? A 47-yard completion to Cacchione (three catches for 102 yards). Purcell got back up and continued bull’s-eyeing passes.

“Getting hit like that, especially playing quarterback like that, you don’t get hit that much,” Purcell said. “So, you get hit like that, it definitely felt good. You don’t want to get hit, obviously … but getting hit like that, it gets me going.”