The instinct, Dave Logan adored.
It was when Blake Purchase’s spider-sense sent him freelancing to Heaven-knows-where that the Cherry Creek football coach would stop the game tape, mid-frame, and shake his head.
Late last season, it happened again. As smoke started pouring out of his ears on the sideline, Logan recalled recently, the voice of the Broncos wondered if he was going to have to read his star pass-rusher the riot act.
“I watch him and at the snap of the ball, he drops (into coverage). And I’m like, ‘Here we go again,’” Logan recalled. “Well, he picks off the pass and runs it all the way back to the 5-yard line.
“So they come off the field and I’m thinking, ‘OK, I’m going to be able to get in his (face).”
Which, as the Creek coach remembers it, led to this exchange:
“Hey, man, (heck) of a play,” Logan told him. “Did you hear the call?”
Purchase nodded. He had.
“And I know I’m supposed to come (on the rush), coach,” the Creek defender replied. “But coach, (the QB) audibled. And it was the exact same audible that they’d run in the first half where they thought I was coming and they threw a hitch.”
“And that’s exactly what they ran again,” Logan recalled. “They threw it right at him.”
Purchase’s spider-sense? It had not only saved his bacon — it helped to clinch one of the Class 5A state champions’ biggest victories of 2021.
“He’s just got an unusual football sense to him,” Logan said of Purchase, who’ll lead the charge as a senior for Creek’s fourth straight title starting with the Bruins’ season-opening visit to Ralston Valley on Friday.
“Blake will see how a tackle is set and he’ll say, ‘You know, I think I can beat him inside.’ For this level, he’s just a really intuitive, smart football player.”
One whose head — and frame — have finally caught up with his intuition. The 6-3, 240-pound edge rusher lifts the curtain for his final prep season as the No. 1 prospect in the state, according to 247Sports, a 4-star talent with Power 5 upside.
“(What I’m looking for) really (in a college) is where the edge rusher is a big thing in their defensive scheme,” explained Purchase, whose 18 offers as of mid-August included the likes of CU, CSU, Iowa State, Oregon, USC, Washington, California, Arizona State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Washington State and Nebraska.
“Also, the culture of the program. I’m trying to go somewhere that even if they’re not winning right now, they really want to win — and you can tell at practice, the way the players act and the way the players talk.”
While folks expected a commitment last spring or summer after visits to Iowa State — where older brother Myles is a sophomore defensive back — as well as to Oregon, Washington and Cal, Purchase surprised observers when he’d declared that he planned on keeping his collegiate options open into the fall.
“My biggest fear in the whole recruiting process, and it still could absolutely happen, is de-committing,” Purchase explained to The Denver Post.
“And I felt the earlier I committed, the greater likelihood you’re flipping to a different college (later). That’s my biggest fear, is just de-committing. That’s why, when (I) give my school my word, I want to stay true to that.”
The Creek senior told The Post he’s working on an autumn visit to Notre Dame, another finalist, and expects to make a decision before early signing day period begins on Dec. 22.
In the meantime, though? It’s back to the grind. Back to putting a defense — and a program’s high bar — on his back, if that’s what it takes for the Bruins to notch a fourth consecutive crown.
“I’ve never been a vocal guy,” said Purchase, who racked up 12 sacks and 18 tackles for losses as a junior last fall. “But before the season, Coach Logan told me, ‘Lead in your way … whatever you can do. Guys are going to look up to you.’”
More importantly, they’re going to listen.
“(We’ve) seen him mature into that (role), for sure, over the last 18 months or so,” Purchase’s father Brian told The Post. “And you can see it and it’s improving every time I come to practice and see him.
“(Blakes and Myles), they’re polar opposites. (Blake) is going to tell you what’s going on. Myles, he just kind of blends in and does whatever you need and takes care of it. Blake is going to be outspoken and not take a whole lot of (guff).”
You want to argue with the kid? Two years ago, the younger Purchase confessed, he was lucky to bench 225 comfortably more than a few times. These days, he’s maxing out between 300-305, all while maintaining the explosive burst off the snap that makes him such a handful coming off the edge.
Or, you know, in coverage. Wherever the play — and his spider-sense — happen to steer him.
“He’s got a very unique skill set,” Logan said. “I mean, he’s 6-4, 240, but athletic. If you played him at tight end, he’d be an All-State tight end. He’s got great hand-eye coordination.
“With everything that he has, I think maybe what’s impressed me the most about Blake is his ability to process things quickly. And his overall football IQ.”
