Powell powering No. 1 Aledo through stellar season

He wears orange but sees red on the football field. He stands at 5-foot-9 but runs with bullish power. Aledo’s senior running back, Brady Powell, is part of a two-man tandem that also features senior standout Kaden Winkfield. The two ball carriers complement each other well. For Powell, the untamed power, impressive balance, and brute ferocity of some of his rushes have coincided with Aledo’s smashmouth identity as a team.

“I attribute my success first of all to the o-linemen in the trenches, it’s huge. Everyone is doing their job up there,” Powell said. “I also attribute it to the offseason and all that that’s been put in. I’ve been working seven days a week, so there’s been no days off. I just have great blocks, great teammates, everyone is pushing each other to be better and it’s just been building on from there.”

Powell, who has carried the ball 52 times for 339 yards (6.5 yards per carry) and six touchdowns thus far, has showcased his ability to run well and upright through the tackles while maintaining good down-the-field vision. Along the way, the stout senior has put together some nice highlight-reel runs while fighting for a dive into the end zone, including an impressive 11-yard touchdown run that helped Aledo preserve its national-record district winning streak.

“My favorite run of the season is probably that one against Denton Ryan,” Powell said. “That one took off a lot. I’ve seen all the videos posted, reposted, the view and comments, and it’s just crazy to me how one of those runs went so viral that makes everything else I’ve done is seen more. That was by far my favorite run. I knew we had to score there — we had to put something on the board to fire the team up — and to just start the comeback because we knew there was no way we were going to lose the district streak here. I saw the end zone and I’m like, ‘There it is.’”

The Bearcats’ head coach, Robby Jones, lauded Powell’s consistent participation and “110 percent” effort he gives. With consistent attendance and continuous work ethic driving him, Jones has seen Powell improve before his eyes while taking everything on with a humble and diligent attitude.

“He’s never been the top dog in the running backs room, but he’s continued to work hard and has continued to do whatever’s asked of him,” Jones said. “He’ll go play fullback and block for the other guys. It’s one of those deals where he has just continued to get better and better. He’s improved on all aspects of his game; catching the ball out of the backfield, his speed has gotten better, and he’s always been a strong, powerful runner.”

Although his roots were first planted elsewhere, Powell quickly adapted and embraced the culture in Aledo after growing up in Colorado. Through his adolescent ventures in Aledo athletics, Powell could not ignore the burning passion he had for the gridiron despite participating for years as a multi-sport athlete.

“Moving out here and playing for Aledo, I’ve seen how much people specialize in their one sport instead of multiple sports, and I realized that people started lifting weights younger and wanted to start playing football at a higher level,” Powell said. “I still worked a ton in Colorado, but moving here showed me how much more I needed to put in and how much effort it would take to get that starting spot. For me, that was fun. It pushed me to do the best I could and be the best I could be. Here at Aledo, there’s a ton of talent here, but there’s also a ton of hard work — no one takes playing here for granted. They work every single day, we watch film and it’s a great experience — there’s nothing like it.”

Through seven regular season games, Powell has accounted for more than 20% of Aledo’s 1,605 rushing yards. His six touchdowns represent a quarter of the Bearcats’ total rushing scores on the year, and has helped fuel an offensive unit that is averaging more than 40 points per contest. Powell hopes to lead Aledo (7-0, 5-0) to another district crown and a record-extending 13th state championship. Then, he hopes to take his game as a student-athlete to the next level, and the influence he has received as a citizen of Aledo has been instrumental in his own process getting to this point in his life.

“I’m planning to continue playing football in college, so I’m still trying to get more offers for all of that — I’ll go anywhere who wants me to play for them,” Powell said. “I’m going to go to college for mechanical engineering and football. Football has always been my favorite, my passion. My family’s very athletic, we believe in sports all the time. I played football, baseball, and basketball when I was younger, and I love the contact, so football definitely took over. I lived in Colorado, so it was very different when I moved down here. There was so much more drive and people who wanted your spot, and I love the work, so it pushed me. I even started wrestling that year to help me with football.”