The way Purcell coach Mike Wilson talked before the season, the Dragons might have been in for a long year.

There were many questions on offense. A new quarterback would have to step up, probably a freshman. On defense, there were numerous holes to be filled. Wilson said he’d use the first three games of the season as a scrimmages to help find out who would play where.

But here it is Week 6 and the Dragons are 4-1 and 2-0 in District 3A-2.

“And if we hadn’t have had nine turnovers in Week 1, then we’d be undefeated,” Wilson said. “Things have developed about the way I expected. I’m surprised that our backfield has developed like it has, by that I mean our quarterback.”

A lot of Purcell’s success rests on quarterback Cole Swayze. Just a freshman, Swayze beat out sophomore Hunter Marcum for the starting job. Steadily, Swayze has gotten over the freshman jitters and turned into a leader.

“He’s doing really well,” Wilson said. “He’s starting to get comfortable in his role. He’s not panicking like he used to. He’s willing to take that bad play. Early on, he’s wanted to score a touchdown on every play and would make some bad decisions. He’s making much better decisions now.”

The Dragons have a shot to go 3-0 in district play tonight, playing at Lone Grove. The Longhorns are 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the district.

After starting the season with a 34-12 win over Bethel, the Longhorns have lost four straight games.

“But they’ve played some very good teams,” Wilson said. “They really are a good, solid team with a good offense. Their problem is that they haven’t been able to stop people. They have some decent skill kids and an offense that likes to stretch you out. They are pretty big up front. But we’re pretty big, too, so hopefully we can make it a shoving match.”

Scott Moore

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sports@normantranscript.com