Purvy’s early TD foretells long night for Haverford against Souderton
HAVERFORD – Shaun Purvy’s junior football season lasted all of one half. A broken bone in his leg in the 2021 opener against North Penn, and the explosive Souderton playmaker was relegated to spectator status the rest of the way.
Friday’s opener to his senior season went quite differently.
Purvy set the tone with a 71-yard touchdown reception on the second play from scrimmage, as Souderton dominated Haverford, 27-7, in a meeting of teams that made the District 1 Class 6A playoffs last fall.
“It was pretty bad watching because I wanted to be out there,” Purvy said. “But now that I am back out here, it’s the most fun I’ve had in a while.”
Purvy was part of an exemplary offensive performance from the Big Red, who controlled the clock and had the better of execution in key moments. Forcing Haverford to turn the ball over on downs at the 16 and the 19 in the first half effectively dented the Fords’ momentum on frustrating night.
Things didn’t add up for Haverford’s offense. When Collin Cassidy (17 carries, 54 yards) moved the ball on the ground with 50 first-half rushing yards, the passing game didn’t connect. When Tommy Wright dialed in the passing game, the rush game deserted the Fords for short-yardage conversions.
It summed to a disjointed opener.
“We made some mistakes,” Wright said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a lot. We’ve got to come back stronger next week.”
Wright finished 12-for-28 for 166 yards. But when Souderton took a 27-0 lead – on Chris Kerns’ 31-yard pick-six in the fourth – Wright was mired at 9-for-25 for 101 yards.
He polished the stat line with an effective drive in the fourth, hitting Ethan Mahan for a 44-yard ball that they had been trying to connect all day. But it merely glossed over a vexing evening, Mahan targeted 14 times and settling for six catches for 78 yards. Ben Fleming added five receptions for 68 yards.
The Fords had 13 first downs and 245 yards of offense but came up short on execution in plus territory.
“I think this whole game is more of a motivation factor for us to push through stronger for next week,” Wright said. “… We’ve just got to keep working, keep our heads up, keep working and working hard.”
Where Haverford couldn’t finish drives, Souderton came through in clutch moments. Kerns was a key figure, rushing 12 times for 97 yards. He covered the final seven yards, stretching the ball across the goal line, on a momentum-shifting 12-play, 81-yard drive in the second quarter to put Souderton up 14-0.
Kerns had a key third-down conversion on that drive, then back-breaking conversions on third-and-6 and third-and-12 in the second half to set up field goals by Souderton’s two-headed kicking monster. Ty Quintois nailed a 33-yard field goal in the third, and Rylan Zuk hit a 39-yarder in the fourth.
“Chris is a dog,” Purvy said of Kerns. “He plays middle linebacker, he plays fullback. He gets all the hard yards, he makes all the hard blocks, all the hard tackles. He’s really the heart of our team.”
Jared Zimmerman was 9-for-16 for 112 yards. Purvy ran 10 times for 47 yards, and Souderton kneeled in goal-to-go at the end of the game for what could’ve been another score.
All told, it was the performance of a team that looks like one vying for a fourth straight District 1 playoff berth.
“We knew we were good,” Purvy said. “We knew we’ve been good. As long as we play confidently, we know we can have a really good year.”
