Cassopolis’ Nathan Hartline goes up for a dunk after scoring a touchdown against Marcellus Friday night. (Leader photo/KELLY SWEENEY)

Dan Purlee was just happy to catch a pass for Cassopolis in Friday’s alumni football game between the Rangers and Marcellus.

“I dropped a pass last year (at the alumni game) and I heard about that tonight,” said Purlee, who’s a 1992 Cassopolis High School graduate.

“I got a little redemption.”

Nick Davis’ 15-yard touchdown pass to Purlee gave the Rangers a 21-0 lead in the third quarter and Cassopolis went on to win 28-0.

But really nobody lost on Friday as fans filled up the stands to support a good cause, while players and coaches embraced the opportunity to once again being involved with a sport they love.

“It’s a fundraiser for the Marcellus football program and our football program,” Purlee said.

“Last year, we were extremely happy with the turnout at Marcellus and the success we had from it so went went ahead and did it again.

“There’s been great support from both communities.”

Nathan Hartline, who’s a 2011 Cassopolis graduate, showed why he was invited to the Detroit Lions rookie tryout camp in May.

Hartline caught four passes for 117 yards, including a 35-yarder from Nick Davis to give the Rangers a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

“I witnessed (the alumni game) last year and I thought it would be fun to play with the boys,” said Hartline.

“I had to play this year, no matter what.”

Hartline couldn’t play in the alumni game last year because he was playing football at Adrian College. He blossomed into an electrifying wide receiver in college. He was a first team all-conference selection as a junior and senior and he was the runner-up as the most valuable player in the league as a senior.

Hartline got cut from the Lions tryout camp, but he’s still optimistic about getting another chance to play professional football.

“I’m still in the loop,” Hartline said. “The coaches told me after the camp that I did a fantastic job. They gave me a few things to work on and they referred me to a few CFL teams.”

Helping out to coach the Cassopolis players for the second straight year was former Dowagiac and Rangers football coach Bernard Thomas.

“Dan (Purlee) told me what he was planning on doing and I thought it was a good idea,” said Thomas. “I told Dan that if he needed someone to coach the defense I’m your guy.

“I’ve had a great time with these guys. Some of them I coached when I was here. This is an opportunity to reunite with them.

“You can see that the community support is outstanding and it’s for a great cause. Any time you can raise some money for kids you can count me in.”

Cassopolis had almost 40 players on its team and each one of them brought an attitude that Thomas expected.

“All of the guys out here played with a high level of intensity when they were high school players,” Thomas said.
“When you’ve been that competitive you’re not going to go through the motions. The players came out here and hit and went after each other.

“We had three practices and the practices were spirited.”