FAYETTEVILLE'S POWELL, BYERS ON RAZORBACKS' R

Fayetteville High School has been well represented on the Arkansas roster the past few years with starting quarterback Brandon Allen, linebackers Brooks Ellis and Dre Greenlaw, and backup quarterback Austin Allen, among others. The Razorbacks might be adding more Bulldogs soon. Arkansas is looking hard at junior quarterback Taylor Powell and junior defensive lineman Akial Byers. Powell received a scholarship offer from Arkansas State in June after his sophomore year, and Wake Forest offered Dec. 3. Since then, he's added offers from Maryland, Memphis and Illinois. "With hard work comes rewards," Powell said. "I feel like I've put in the work and the commitment, and I trusted the process of recruiting and I feel like that yes, it's paying off and colleges are starting to notice, and I'm grateful for the opportunity." Powell, 6-2, 200 pounds, was named the All-Arkansas Preps Offensive Player of the Year after leading the Bulldogs to their first Class 7A state title since 2012 with a 28-7 victory over Springdale Har-Ber. In 2015, he completed 269 of 378 passes for 3,594 yards, 49 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. That works out to a 71 percent completion rate. He believes several schools -- including Central Florida, West Virginia and Oklahoma State -- are close to offering. Powell said he and Hog tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. stay in touch. "Coach Lunney messages me a couple of times every week or so," Powell said. "He just checks on me and ask questions. He'll send me something, and we'll try and touch base." Powell, who was the All-Arkansas Preps Sophomore of the Year after passing for 2,513 yards, 20 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, broke the passing records of Brandon and Austin Allen at Woodland Junior High School. Fayetteville Coach Daryl Patton said Powell is consumed by his love of the game. "His hobby, his girlfriend, his everything is football," Patton said. "He lives and breathes it. He works extremely hard at his trade." Powell, who has a 3.9 grade-point average, handled the Bulldogs' offense like a veteran. "A hundred percent of our offense went through him," Patton said. "Either through our turbo-offense where he really had to pick up the tempo and make decisions or the RPO where 75 percent of the time the decisions were on him, the presnap-postsnap. You can count all the mistakes he made on one hand." Powell only has one visit in mind in the near future. "I'm going to unofficially visit Wake Forest on the [Feb.] 20th for a Junior Day," Powell said. He's not sure when his college decision might come. "That's something I'll discuss with my family," Powell said. "That's a big commitment. I'm going to keep the recruiting process wide open until I feel like it's the right time to commit to a school. It might be next week, it might be signing day. You just never know." Byers, 6-4, 265 pounds, received a scholarship offer from Alabama and Wake Forest on Wednesday and added ones from Missouri, South Carolina and Ole Miss on Thursday. He also has offers from Mississippi State, Iowa State, Arkansas State and Memphis. Patton said Alabama liked what it saw of Byers on tape. "They said they looked at a bunch of recruits on the D-line, and they said he was the second highest D-lineman they saw," Patton said. Arkansas is showing strong interest while TCU, Oklahoma State, South Carolina and numerous others are also recruiting him. Byers, who recorded 69 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 5 quarterback hurries, 2 forced fumbles and a pass breakup this past season, was a second team All-Arkansas Preps selection and was named the outstanding defensive lineman in the Class 7A-West Conference. He's expected to talk to Alabama Coach Nick Saban today. "It definitely gets you excited," Patton said of Byers' reaction to the offer. "He had a big smile on his face." Patton said he expects more offers to come Byers' way. "Oklahoma State is the same thing, they haven't offered yet, but I think they will," Patton said. "Arkansas, I think they're getting close."

FAYETTEVILLE'S POWELL, BYERS ON RAZORBACKS' R

Photo Credit: NWADG

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