Purcell key in Arcata’s win over McKinleyville
Arcata High quarterback Shane Purcell led the way for his team’s win over McKinleyville High on Friday night with an outstanding five touchdown passes in the traveling Tigers’ 30-14 win at Panther Field.
The senior-year player’s arm has been red hot during the fall 2021 season, with 21 successful touchdown passes in his team’s four wins, averaging just over five per outing.
Tigers head coach Jamal Jones believes it’s not just Purcell improving as the season goes on, but the team as a whole getting better.
“I think he’s getting better,” he said of Purcell’s progress this campaign. “I also think our team is getting better, but he is playing some damn good football at the time. I think he is continually improving and he is a senior, so when you put these things together I feel good about that as a coach.”
Friday night the Arcata QB found fellow seniors Alex Jioras and Carson Tucker, with sophomore Oscar Carlson also making a touchdown catch.
Tucker caught three passes past the goal line, with the sophomore Carlson securing a package from 24 yards away to put the game out of the home team’s reach and Jioras making an eight-yard catch of his own.
Jones points out the constant connections to the end zone are no coincidence.
“They’re all best friends. They
put in a lot of work together, you know. So from one end, every
one sees it on the field and you know they’re excited about it.
But the other part people just don’t see is the hours that those kids put in and the thousands of balls that they have thrown and caught,” he elaborated.
First-half play was hardfought, with both sides moving the ball up the field and matching each other on the scoreboard.
Arcata scored the game’s first two touchdowns, but McKinelyville responded with a solid ground game and key throws from quarterback Jack Clancy to answer for two touchdowns of their own. The Panthers also made good on their conversions, putting the Panthers up 14-12 going into halftime.
And that’s all the Panthers would have to say, with the Tiger’s defense solving the problems posed by the home team’s offense.
Jones pointed to his team’s experience, problem-solving skills and grit as keys to keeping their rivals out of the scoreboard during the second half on Friday night.
“They’re stepping up. Us coaches don’t take the credit even if we make adjustments or things like that,” he said. “For the past two weeks, we’ve shut out teams in the second half. Whatever it takes to win, the guys are down for it.”
“You know, they’re veterans and they’ve been here before. They’ve lost close games, they’ve won close games and continuously moved on. Us coaches aren’t on the field, so, you have to have trust and (have) faith in
in your guys, and I trust their decision-making,” the strategist added.
With a 2-0 conference record and a total 4-2 season run in tow after Friday’s victory, Arcata now has its eyes set on next week’s game against Hoopa Valley.
The Tigers’ coach isn’t taking anything for granted against the Warriors.
“We fully expect Hoopa to be competitive and to play their game, so we talked about it today and we started getting ready for that today,” Jones stated.