Columbus’ J.P. Powell carries on the football family legacy -- and honors his late mother
Jonathan “J.P.” Powell has some unfinished business to take care of.
The junior quarterback for Columbus High missed most of last season with a knee injury. He’s back healthy again this year, wants to improve on a solid start to his 2020 season and help the Blue Devils notch their first win in over a year.
He’s also trying to carry the load left by his brother’s departure to Division I college football — and make his late mother proud.
“He’s happy to be out here this soon (after his injury),” Columbus coach Phil Marino said to the Ledger-Enquirer. “He’s excited. He wants to have a really good year, and obviously he wants to win.”
Making his mother proud
Denise Walker, 38, was a single mother suffering from congestive heart failure while raising Powell and his brother, Yale running back Tre Peterson, when she died in her sleep Jan. 11, 2018, a morning that started like a regular school day.
Peterson left for school first. A neighbor who usually visited Walker around that time came to the door. When nobody answered her repeated knocking, and the door was unlocked, she became concerned and entered.
She found Walker unresponsive in bed.
Walker usually woke up Powell, who attended Richards Middle School then, but this morning he woke up to the sound of the neighbor screaming.
After he learned their mother had died, Powell went to the bathroom and punched the wall. Then he called his brother. Peterson didn’t answer at first because he was in the middle of class. Powell kept calling. Peterson finally called back when his lunch period started. The neighbor took Powell’s phone to report the horrible news.
“I broke down,” Peterson previously told the Ledger-Enquirer..
He didn’t even bother to check out of school. He “just left,” he said.
The team rallied around them.
The Blue Devils won seven games that year, made the playoffs and enjoyed a winning season for the first time since 2015. They were the only Muscogee County school to advance past the first round of the state playoffs that year and had six players make the L-E’s 2018 All-Bi-City first and second teams. Marino was named All-Bi-City Co-Coach of the Year.
It was one of Columbus’ best seasons in ages. The Blue Devils hadn’t won a playoff game in 44 years.
Powell played much of 2018 on defense as a linebacker. He was expected to start at quarterback last season before an injury forced him to the sideline for almost all of it. His mom’s dream, according to the brothers, was to see Powell and Peterson share the same backfield.
“When I come on the field, I think about her,” Powell said to the Ledger-Enquirer. “Looking in the stands, I can see her reflection. Before the games, praying helps me a lot.”
Now, Powell is back with something to prove.
Carrying the torch
Powell and Peterson are as close a pair of brothers as you’ll find. After their mother passed away, the two formed a bond that “no one could break,” according to Powell.
Powell dreams of again attending the same school as his brother, maybe even sharing the same football field.
“I’ve been with my brother, like, every year,” Powell said. “So I’d like to be at the same school with him again.”
But there’s work to be done at Columbus.
Powell says he needs to improve as a pocket passer. His release is quick, and his arm strength is without question, but the junior wants to become more comfortable stepping into the pocket. He modeled his game growing up after Cam Newton but realized quickly that, at 5-foot-11, mimicking the Heisman Trophy winner may not be the best strategy.
“I know I can roll out and throw the ball,” Powell said. “My receivers have helped me out a lot. But I need to improve a lot.”
Powell, in three games, has passed for 598 yards and 7 touchdowns but has thrown three interceptions. The Blue Devils are 0-3 and have not won since the 2019 season opener, a losing streak of 12 games.
Columbus faces Jordan Friday at 7:30, then embarks on a tough stretch of Troup, Hardaway and Carver in three out of the following four games.
If the Blue Devils, who are already 0-1 in the region, are to make the playoffs, they’ll likely need to steal one of those games. For that to happen, they’ll need Powell at his best.
