Kash Guthmueller ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw for another and the Dragons’ defense stepped up for a pair of scores on their way to a 56-0 victory in the 2023 Battle for the Bridge.
Led by senior linebacker Ryker Fink’s 13 tackle performance, coach Aaron Dillard’s defense pitched its second shutout of the young season.
The Dragons scored twice on defense. Derek Cravens loped in from 15 yards out after stabbing an errant Bulldog aerial and Noel Chavez took an interception to the house from 60-yards out.
Oscar Wren hauled in a 41-yard pass off the arm of Guthmueller for a touchdown. Boston Knowles found the end zone from five yards out. Guillermo Martinez tallied on a three-yard burst and Kyeston Martin went cross-country scoring from the Dragon 13 yard line.
Guthmueller’s two touchdown runs were from four and 22 yards out. He finished the night with 59 yards rushing and 41 passing for an even 100 yards of offense.
In addition to his pick six, Cravens finished with five tackles from his defensive lineman position.
“We had a lot of guys play well last Friday night,” Dillard said. “Brody Holder played really well at left tackle. Kash Guthmueller had a good game at quarterback and Boston Knowles played extremely well at running back.”
Knowles finished the game with 79 yards rushing on 15 carries.
The coach praised the play of Fink and noted the two interceptions that went the other way for touchdowns.
“Ryker really stood out. He had a good game,” Dillard said. “Derek Cravens and Noel Chavez had big plays in the interceptions.”
“We had a large cast of players that played well the other night,” he said.
“Lexington played really hard,” Dillard said. “At times their defensive front four slowed us down and made us work, especially early in the first half.
“We would have liked to get our ones more reps because they still need work but it was one of those nights. That’s how things go sometimes.”
Purcell built a 35-0 lead at halftime.
The 2-1 Dragons travel to 0-3 Crooked Oak for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday night.
“Crooked Oak is a team that is still trying to find its identity,” Dillard said. “They’ve got decent skilled kids who have speed and athleticism. They’ve just struggled to get stops (defensively). They play hard.
“We expect them to play even better than they did last week. We’re not taking them lightly,” the coach confirmed. “We’re getting our game plan in place.”
Dragon notes:
Purcell Head Coach Aaron Dillard nominated Brody Holder as the Offensive Lineman of the Week. Holder graded out at 87 percent against Lexington last Friday night.
Kash Guthmueller was nominated as the Offensive Player of the Week. He rushed for 59 yards and two touchdowns and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Oscar Wren.
Ryker Fink was nominated as the Defensive Player of the Week for his 13 tackle performance against Lexington. He also had three tackles for loss in the game.
Dillard nominated Derek Cravens as the Defensive Lineman of the Week. In addition to his pick six, Cravens finished the night with five tackles.
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