ARMAGH — Purchase Line dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage in a 35-6 drubbing of United on Friday night, remaining unblemished through seven weeks in the Heritage Conference.
“On offense and defense, I’m pretty proud of the way our guys stepped up and played,” Purchase Line coach Dave Small said. “Hopefully we’re gaining our momentum we need to have going down the stretch.”
The Red Dragons’ offense scored five rushing touchdowns and held the Lions (2-5) out of the end zone for more than 32 minutes at Thomas J. Madill Athletic Field.
“Purchase Line’s one hell of a football team,” United coach Chris Matava said. “They’re very physical up front. They took control of the line right off the bat, and their backs run hard. They don’t do a lot of fancy stuff but they do it very well.”
Purchase Line running back Damian Fry toted the ball just four times for 147 yards and two scores, including touchdowns of 59 and 33 yards.
“We’re definitely a run-first team,” the 5-foot-7, 160-pound senior said.
Eleven different Purchase Line players carried the ball, amassing 418 yards on the ground.
Fry played a little more than two quarters.
“We have enough backs that it’s just as fun watching from the sidelines as it is being out there,” Fry said.
The undefeated Red Dragons (7-0) tried one forward pass at the seven-minute mark of the third quarter.
Bob Freno got Purchase Line on the board first, scoring 10 minutes into the game. Logan Lawson kicked the first of three point-after attempts.
Joe Doland scored on a 6-yard run at 9:33 of the second quarter to give the Red Dragons a 14-0 advantage.
Fry capped a brief two-play drive when he busted through a hole on the left side of the line and cut back to the right, eluding multiple United defenders on his way to paydirt. The Red Dragons led 21-0 at halftime.
“It all goes to the line up front,” Fry said. “They did a great job, getting me those first couple of yards in the free. And when I get in the open field, I kind of work my way through the defense and pick up what I can.”
Fry opened the second-half scoring with a 33-yard jaunt.
Justin Matko, who finished with 87 yards on seven touches, scored from the Lions’ 29 and Freno ran in the conversion for a 35-0 lead, putting the game clock in motion with 2:51 left in the third quarter.
Tyler Capitosti tallied United’s lone score. The running back, who was filling in for an injured Kody Oliver, hauled in a short pass from quarterback Jared Long for a touchdown.
The 175-pound senior broke three tackles before reaching the end zone 70 yards later and 45 seconds left in the third quarter.
United had opportunities to put points on the board first after Purchase Line roughed the punter. The Lions drove to the Red Dragons’ 43 but were forced to punt again.
Ryan Merle’s punt hit a Purchase Line player and United pounced on the loose ball at the Red Dragons’ 34. Two plays later, though, Long was picked off by Lawson.
“Early in the game, we had some chances,” Matava said. “Their defense played very well. They attacked and came at us. We were sitting back on our heels a little bit.”
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