Big and little numbers define Fayetteville QB

Fayetteville quarterback Taylor Powell is the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s All-Arkansas Preps offensive player of the year for the second consecutive season. It’s difficult to argue against him. Powell’s resume includes numerous school and state passing records, accomplished while leading the Bulldogs to a 12-1 season and a second consecutive Class 7A state title. Powell, 6-1, 202, established himself as a winner (34-6 as a starter) as well as a record-setter in three years as Fayetteville’s starting quarterback. Consider these feats: • 9,474 career passing yards, second-most ever by a Class 7A quarterback. • 113 career touchdowns passes thrown, most ever by a Class 7A quarterback. • 55 touchdowns accounted for in a season, a Class 7A single-season mark. • 49 touchdown passes as a season, the most by a Fayetteville quarterback in a single season. The individual marks shine, but the real glory for Powell comes in what Fayetteville accomplished as a team: The team made three trips to the Class 7A state title game and won back-to-back Class 7A state championships, all with Powell as the starting quarterback. “I just feel like we were a really dominant senior class and we won a lot of games,” said Powell, who is committed to play college football at Wake Forest. “You can throw away all the statistics and all the individual awards and all of that. “I’d just say I’m proud of the guys that I was with and I’m happy our senior year turned out the way that it did.” Fayetteville capped 2016 with a second consecutive Class 7A state championship, with Powell completing 15 of 26 passes for 265 yards and 4 touchdowns in the 53-19 victory against North Little Rock on Dec. 2. Powell completed 237 of 348 pass attempts in his senior year for 3,367 yards, with 44 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He also ran for 190 yards and six more touchdowns. But it was the second championship that Powell said the Bulldogs really wanted. “We had won state, we knew what to do, but it’s even harder to win it a second time,” Powell said. Especially considering the tumultous offseason endured by the Bulldogs with the sudden departure of coach Daryl Patton and the June hiring of Bill Blankenship as Patton’s replacement. “I felt like when coach Patton left everybody was kind of confused and everybody needed a leader,” Powell said. “So our senior class and I, we felt like this is our team and we needed to step up. And we just assured everybody that we’ve got these seniors, we’ve won a lot of ballgames and everything is going to be all right.” Blankenship spent one season with Powell, but that was enough to find out how special his quarterback was. “I’ve not been around very many three-year starters at quarterback to begin with,” Blankenship said. “Add to that the three championship games and that’s pretty special.”

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BIG AND LITTLE NUMBERS DEFINE FAYETTEVILLE QB

VERNON TARVER

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette | 12/26/2016

PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Woods