Andrew Bower Was Mr. Versatility For CV Bears

UNPUBLISHED CORRECTION: The name of football player Jeremey Williams is misspelled in this story. The correct spelling was confirmed by his mother.

The multi-faceted football career of Central Valley’s Andrew Bower ended with Thursday’s victory over Rogers.

Playoff promise at season’s start for the veteran and highly regarded Bears was broken last week with their loss to rival University.

But it couldn’t diminish the regard coach Rick Giampietri held for his third-year starter.

Bower has played six different positions during the course of his career.

“He’s a versatile guy,” said Giampietri.

Among his positions have been defensive end, defensive tackle, nose guard and middle linebacker. Offensively he’s been a guard and a tight end.

“I’ve played pretty much everywhere,” said Bower. “They started moving me last year. Whenever someone was injured they’d say, `Maybe Bower can play it.”’ The variety, he added, was rather enjoyable. It kept practice fun not knowing week-to-week what position he would play.

Bower started at offensive guard his sophomore year. His first game he had to block WSU-bound Jeremy Williams of Ferris. He remembers being picked up by the powerful defender and dropped on CV’s quarterback for a sack.

“We weren’t running well and after the second game, coaches said they wanted to try something new,” said Bower.

Basically that something was to remove him from the starting line.

“All of a sudden Tyree Clowe became a 300-yard a game runner,” laughed Bower. “Obviously I was keeping them down.”

His junior year he broke his ankle before the season, but healed quickly enough to play tight end by the second game.

Defense was a similar story. He initially played tackle before beginning this season at end. Injuries necessitated his move to linebacker for the North Central game and he had 11 tackles.

“That’s a lot,” said Giampietri. “We just told him to go and tackle the fullback.”

Another injury resulted in his move to nose guard and in two weeks he added 20 more tackles.

“I like the defensive line a lot,” he said. “But I feel more comfortable on the end. In the middle it’s you against the world.”

Bower plays baseball, where he pitches and plays first base. But, he said, since this year, his interests are leaning more toward football thanks to his do-it-all responsibilities.

“My teammates have a little joke,” Bower said. “They say I’m hostile, mobile and agile.”

And versatile.