Maine South wins a high-flying showdown between sophomore Jameson Purcell and Naperville North’s Jacob Bell

Maine South sophomore quarterback Jameson Purcell has started about half the season for the Hawks. Purcell had nearly 20 major scholarship offers before he even took a varsity snap, so big things were expected from him the moment he took the field.

But the 6-2, 181-pound lefty has turned into a phenomenal high school player much earlier than almost anyone anticipated.

The Hawks needed every one of Purcell’s six touchdown passes to beat Naperville North 49-42 in the first round of the Class 8A playoffs on Saturday in Naperville.

“It’s been absolutely amazing watching him,” Maine South senior Michael Dellumo said. “He gets better every single day. It’s so surprising how far he has come this season. I never thought it could be possible for him to be so good so quickly, to be honest.”

Purcell was 37 for 50 for 465 yards with six TDs and one interception, which came on the 50th pass.

“We knew it was going to be a shootout,” Purcell said. “Both offenses are explosive so we knew we had to keep scoring.”

Purcell’s sixth TD pass was for 15-yards to Jacob Vitel. That put the Hawks (7-3) ahead 49-28 with 11:18 to play.

Naperville North (7-3) has a star quarterback as well, Ball State recruit Jacob Bell, who is one of the season’s breakout stars. He didn’t go down without a fight, throwing two TD passes to Brock Pettiway in the fourth quarter to cut Maine South’s lead to seven.

The Huskies’ final drive stalled at the Maine South 29.

“The goal was obviously to win a state championship,” Bell said. “Or at least make a deeper playoff run. But I think I made my parents and my family proud this season.”

Bell was 34 for 49 for 508 yards with four TDs and no interceptions.

“[Bell] was unbelievable,” Maine South coach Dave Inserra said. “He’s more than Ball State. He makes every throw. He’s a nice size kid. He runs really well and he seems really steady. I lost some sleep wondering how we were going to stop him. And we didn’t.”

Quinn Morris had 11 catches for 179 yards and 2 TDs for the Huskies. Chico Thomas caught 13 passes for 186 yards with one TD. Pettiway had two TD catches and threw a 63-yard TD pass to Morris in the first quarter for Naperville North.

Maine South coach Dave Inserra, who likely had a better idea than anyone of what Purcell was ready to accomplish this season, was most impressed with the improvement in Purcell’s running game. He had seven carries for 37 yards and picked up a key first down.

“He was making good decisions to run early,” Inserra said. “He had a couple slides. We’ve been working on that. He can obviously throw it. And he’s trusting all the guys around him.”

Joey Naughton had 11 catches for 172 yards and a TD. Dellumo caught eight passes for 81 yards and a TD and Mason Patras had seven receptions for 97 yards and 3 TDs for the Hawks.

Maine South will host undefeated West Aurora in the second round of the playoffs. The Hawks started the season as a serious state title contender. A month ago they fell out of the Super 25. Now, with Purcell playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the state, the sky is the limit for the Hawks.

“I’m fully confident we can make a run and beat every team in our way,” Dellumo said.