*

BANGS – During a signing ceremony Friday afternoon at the Bangs High School gym with the entire district in attendance, Dragon senior Guy Powell put pen to paper as the band played and elementary students cheered to confirm his intentions to play football for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

“This is a dream of mine come true,” Powell said after the conclusion of the ceremony. “Since I was a kid I wanted this, and for it to come true is just crazy.”

Powell opted for UMHB despite receiving heavy interest and taking visits to Hardin-Simmons, Eastern New Mexico and Rocky Mountain College in Montana.

“It felt like home to me when I got there,” Powell said of his decision to attend UMHB. “I met Coach (Andy) Padron, the offensive coordinator, and he really spoke to me in a way, not as a coach, but as a mentor and I think I can learn from him. I met most of those guys up there and they’re really about the work. There’s a reason why they win so much and I’m going to go there and try to help them to do that.”

As a senior, Powell rushed for 2,040 yards and 27 touchdowns, caught eight passes for 118 yards and three scores, and tallied 130 tackles with one for loss and two fumble recoveries as he was named District 5-2A Division I Co-MVP and earned Class 2A second-team all-state honors by the Texas Sportswriters Association.

“Guy is special, I’ve never coached a guy quite like him,” said new Bangs head coach Jason Cole, who served as the Dragons offensive coordinator last year. “He’s the most talented, best athlete we’ve got, but he’s also by far the hardest worker we’ve got, too, which is very unusual. He did it on a day-by-day, play-by-play basis. He did it for us in the weight room and the practice field. We had a lot of close games this year and we’d be tied or behind at halftime and you’d look Guy in the eye and he’d say ‘we’re OK, coach.’ We all believed him and we went out and played a lot of good second halves and won some games because of him. We think he’s going to go to UMHB and be special there, too.”

In reflecting on the 7-5, bi-district championship senior campaign, Powell added, “I take it day-by-day and I thankful to God for the things I can do and the hard work I’ve put in. All glory to God right now.”

A four-year contributor on varsity, Powell concluded his career with 3,959 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns on the ground – an average of 989 yards and 9 touchdowns per season.

“What’s so special about Guy is how much he progressed from his freshman year to his senior year,” said former Bangs head football coach Kyle Maxfield, who was in attendance at the ceremony. “We all knew that he had the talent to get to the next level, but half through his high school career he came to a ‘Y’ in the road and we didn’t know which road he was going to take. With the help of his family and the coaching staff, he trusted us and took the right path and his senior year couldn’t have been more special for him and his team. He just put the team on his shoulders. You could tell by the signing event how the whole school and community is behind him because everybody helped raise that kid and he’s overcome a lot obstacles in his life. That’s what’s going to help him be successful at UMHB, because it’s not going to be easy. But everything he’s been through in his personal life and with our team, being up and down, is really going to serve him well at the next level.”

Powell said his fondest memories of his playing days as a Dragon are, “just the team, the way we built things from my freshman year to my senior year was great. The friendship and bond we had as a team, we were able to use that and get a win in the playoffs for the first in a long time.”

Mary Hardin-Baylor is coming off a 12-2 campaign and national semifinals appearance in the NCAA Division III football ranks. The Crusaders have won 18 consecutive American Southwest Conference championships with three national championships in 2016, 2019 and 2021, though the 2016 title has been vacated.

Regarding his freshman year expectations at UMHB, Powell said, “I have to work my butt off to be exactly where I want to be and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. It’s a reality check. They told me if I’m good enough to make varsity I’ll be on varsity, if not I’ll be on JV. But I’m going to work my butt off when I get there.”

Upon the conclusion of his academic career, Powell hopes to have continued to grow in his spirituality and intends to pursue a coaching career.

“I hope to become a better man and a better man with God especially,” Powell said. “I hope to get an education and come back and be able to teach kids as a coach to maybe do the same things I did as a player.”