Purnell returns with a vengeance, helps Schalick reclaim Hars-Lake Trophy

BRIDGETON — All Dez Purnell could do was watch last week’s game from his living room on somebody’s Facebook Live. And he cried. He wanted to be out there with his teammates more than anyone could know, but the officials ruled him out of bounds.

At that moment the Schalick senior running back/linebacker decided when he did get back on the field again he was going to make something happen and show people who he really was.

He was all over the place Thursday against one of the Cougars’ biggest rivals, especially in the second quarter.

Purnell scored three touchdowns in a stretch of 4 minutes, 16 seconds — two on offense, one on defense — and played like the Red Power Rangers he embodied as the Cougars dominated Cumberland 41-15 to win back the Hars-Lake Trophy. He scored touchdowns on runs of 9 and 6 yards on back-to-back possession and then on Cumberland’s next snap returned an interception 35 yards for another score. The series took the Cougars from a 7-7 tie to a 28-7 halftime lead.

“I had to make a statement,” he said. “I had to let them know, like, y’all took 2 out and now he’s back. That’s really it.

“I knew that today it was going to be hell for them. I knew 100 percent of the way I was going to show them what I was going to show them what I was made of today. I’ve been letting off a bit of the gas pedal, but there’s not any more letting up in here.”

Purnell was barred from last week’s Diamond Division showdown at Paulsboro for alleged unsportsmanlike language directed towards a Salem player at the end of that controversial game. A game official reported it and Schalick upheld the suspension despite Salem coach Kemp Carr going to bat for the player.

Cougars head coach Kevin Leamy called the whole episode “unfortunate.” Purnell said he didn’t say what was alleged to have been said, but accepted the consequences and seems to have put it behind him.

He gained seven yards and a first down the first time he touched the ball Thursday night. He ended up rushing for 29 yards and was an aggressive part of a defense that held the Colts to negative rushing yardage in the first half and only 22 through the first three quarters. The touchdowns were his first in his two years with the Cougars.

“So, so happy for that kid,” Leamy said. “I told him before the game if we’re going to get opportunities down at the goal line you’re going to score.

“He’s a fantastic kid. He’s done everything right since he’s been here. He’s been the perfect captain and the perfect leader and I believe in him 100 percent. He showed last week by the way he practiced the reason we picked him to be captain. I thought he showed up. He responded exactly the way you would have hoped, conducted himself perfect, played his … off and the results spoke for themselves.

“I knew the way he practiced the past week and a half he just wanted to get back on the football field, so you knew as soon as he got back onto that field, he was going to do something special and he did … It’s really the way you would hope that a kid would handle adversity.”

Purnell wasn’t the only star of the show, although he was recognized as the Cougars’ Hars-Lake MVP. Quarterback Kenny Bartee accounted for 254 yards of offense, rushed for one touchdown and connected on a 78-yard pass play with Shawn Kelly for another. Kelly, the Cougars’ kicker, caught two passes for 112 yards. Speedster David Stewart opened the scoring with a 50-yard touchdown run and had 114 yards rushing and receiving. 

The seniors all came out with colors of their favorite Power Ranger sticking out of their jerseys; Bartee in green, Stewart in orange. Many of them had matching shoes. Purnell knew all about the legacy of the Red one – traditional leader, cornerstone, enhanced strength, speed and durability; the leader – and he played like it.

Schalick 41, Cumberland 15

SCORING SUMMARY
S-David Stewart 50 run (Shawn Kelly kick), 0:09 1Q
CU-ZayMere Hall 80 pass from Malik Jones (Jett Marguglio kick), 9:52 2Q
S-DezYon Purnell 9 run (Shawn Kelly kick), 5:33 2Q
S-DezYon Purnell 6 run (Shawn Kelly kick), 3:22 2Q
S-DezYon Purnell 35 interception return (Shawn Kelly kick), 1:17 2Q
S-Kenny Bartee 14 run (kick failed), 7:43 3Q
S-Shawn Kelly 78 pass from Kenny Bartee (Dash Mayne kick), 3:30 3Q
CU-Dereon Johnson 40 run (Dereon Johnson pass from Malik Jones), 10:10 4Q