MORGANTOWN – Morgantown’s Bobby Powell did his best Roy Kent impression on Friday night at Mylan Pharmaceuticals Stadium.
He was here, he was there, he was every (bleeping) where.
Powell, much like the foul-mouthed character on Ted Lasso, found himself in the middle of all the action during a Mohawk Bowl against University that didn’t go the way he nor any of his teammates wanted it, especially early on.
Trailing 21-0 at halftime, it was Powell who lit a fire underneath the Mohigans (4-5) on the opening kickoff of the second half.
The sophomore defensive back grabbed the ball at the 15-yard line and raced right down the middle of the University kickoff coverage team for an 85-yard score where Powell went completely untouched. In the end, it wasn’t enough as UHS (9-0) picked up a 49-14 victory.
“I had to be the one to bring the energy,” Powell said. “Our team was down at the half, and I had to bring them back.”
He nearly did, too.
After a 79-yard touchdown run by MHS’s Peyton Johnson cut the UHS lead to 21-14, the Hawks tried to sneak leading receiver Sage Jackson past Powell on a post route. Instead, the 5-foot-10 speedster broke on the route and nearly provided a game-changing interception.
In fact, it was Powell who held Clawges to just six yards on one reception.
“He does a really good job of staying deep,” UHS offensive coordinator Eric Snyder said of Powell’s play. “He’s definitely well coached, that’s for sure, and Morgantown does a great job of teaching him the fundamentals. He does a good job of keeping his backpedal and of breaking on the ball. He’s just a really good athlete who is well coached.”
Having a cornerback travel with the team’s best wide receiver is a high compliment to both Clawges and Powell.
It was a challenge that Powell relished.
“I was going to be the one to stop him,” Powell said. “Everyone knows he’s a good player. I wanted to be the one to stop him.”
The matchup didn’t go unnoticed by UHS head coach John Kelley.
“He’s very good,” Kelley said. “He’s a tremendous football player. I just congratulated him, and I thought he did a great job on Sage.”
What could keep Kelley and the rest of the UHS team awake for next year is the fact that Powell is just a sophomore, and he is already thinking about 2022.
“We will be back next year,” Powell, who was playing in his first Mohawk Bowl, said. “This was an alright experience. Definitely next year we are going to be better.”
By ERIC HERTER
TWEET @dompostsports
