If Powell Sees Daylight, He’ll Burn Eagles Demons’ Sprinter Brings Big Concern For Eastern

Eastern Washington’s defensive strategy for Saturday’s Division I-AA college football playoff game against Northwestern State is simple:

Don’t get caught looking at Ronnie Powell’s backside.

The reason behind the strategy is equally as simple:

There’s nobody on Eastern’s roster capable of catching Ronnie Powell from behind.

Powell, a 5-foot-10, 172-pound junior, is a world-class sprinter who has run 10.25 seconds in the 100 meters. As a junior last spring, he finished seventh in the 100 meters at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. And since taking over as the starting tailback in the Demons’ Pro I offense this fall, he has been as productive as any back in the tradition-rich Southland Conference.

“As far as his ability is concerned, it’s unlimited,” said Sam Goodwin, coach of the 8-3 Demons, from Natchitoches, La. “He’s not very big, but he’s really tough. He’s not the jitterbug type. He’s kind of a track guy as far as his running style goes. He’s got that long stride, but he’s still able to accelerate and make quick cuts.”

Ironically, Powell transferred to Northwestern State from Division II Arkansas Tech so he could get away from playing tailback. In his two seasons at Tech he ran for more than 1,500 yards, but figured he had a better chance of making it in the NFL as a cornerback or wide receiver.

“That was my main intent in transferring - to excel at a position that would probably lead me to the pros,” Powell said. “Weighing what I do, 170 pounds, a career as an NFL running back could be pretty short. I was hoping to fit in at receiver or cornerback, but it didn’t work out.”

Goodwin tried to accommodate his fleet transfer and worked him out at both of his preferred positions in the spring and early fall. But the Demons were loaded at both spots, and in Northwestern State’s first game of the season, starting tailback Brian Jacquet broke his leg.

Goodwin convinced Powell to take over the following week, but Powell sprained his knee early in a 42-7 rout of Henderson State - and all but ended his football career.

“He was ready to hang it up shortly after that,” Goodwin said. “He came into my office and told me he was concerned about the injury ruining his knee and his track career. He didn’t feel comfortable with it; didn’t think the doctor had diagnosed it right.

“He basically came in to hang it up. We talked a little bit, but when he left I didn’t think I had convinced him of anything. But when we went out to practice the next day he was out there, and I never heard any more about it.”

So what changed Powell’s mind?

“I’m a momma’s boy,” he said, adding he went back to his room after meeting with Goodwin and called his mother, Ruthie Hayden, back in his hometown of Hope, Ark.

“She told me life is nothing but a gamble anyway, and that you’ve got to gamble sometimes to make it pay off,” Powell explained. “She’s my biggest critic, but she’s my biggest fan, too. So I took her advice and went back.”

Powell went on to recover from the knee sprain and regained the starting tailback position a month later. In his second start - against his former school, Arkansas Tech - he rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns in a 49-10 win. And in the Demons’ 38-24 playoff-clinching win over Stephen F. Austin two weeks ago, he raced for 126 yards and three more TDs.

This season, he has carried 149 times for 991 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 6.7 yards per carry. But in his last five games - all as a starter - he has rushed for 800 yards and eight touchdowns.

And Goodwin is convinced he hasn’t hurt his NFL chances.

“Any time you do as much as he has to help your team, they’ll find a place for you,” he said.

The problems the Eagles face in trying to contain Powell are highlighted in their track and field record book, which lists Robert Jefferson as the school’s top 100-meter runner in 10.52 - nearly three-tenths of a second slower than Powell. And Jefferson’s been gone 10 years.

“We’ve got to plug every hole and force him to bounce until the rest of our defenders get to the party,” EWU coach Mike Kramer said. “We can not allow him to get headed toward the goal line with a head of steam, because he’ll outrun us and be in the end zone, and we’ll still be trying to catch up.”

Powell has watched Eastern’s defense on video and seems convinced most of the Eagles are going to be late arriving at “the party.”

“I’m not talking down about their team,” he said. “They have to be pretty good to win out in their conference. But I’ve faced bigger linemen and better linebackers. I think we’ll give ‘em trouble.

“In order for them to shut us down, they’re going to have to stop our running game. And I don’t see that happening.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo