Siah Powers handles double duty for Lafayette Jeff football

LAFAYETTE - Siah Powers is a football guy.

If you apply position labels, he's a running back or a linebacker.

Right now, he's both.

At Lafayette Jeff, you're either an offensive guy or defensive guy save for a few special circumstances during coach Pat Shanley's seven seasons.

This is one of those rare occasions.

"He is an offensive kid at heart quite honestly, but more importantly, he is just a kid who wants to win," Shanley said. "He has played Sam linebacker for us this year. He's played inside linebacker. He has played some tailback. He has played a lot of special teams for us.

"Each week his usage may change depending on the needs of our team."

MORE:Discipline leads Lafayette Jeff to victory over McCutcheon

Until his senior season, Powers was playing linebacker.

A shoulder injury requiring offseason surgery changed that.

"I hurt my shoulder last year and had to get surgery so I had to come back to running back because I couldn’t wrap up anybody," Powers said.

An injury on the defense led to Powers going back on Jeff's "D-block" out of necessity.

"Coach Shanley had a meeting with me asked me if I could play defense," Powers said. "I told him I am going to do whatever I can do to win. Then one of the running backs was out and I had to come back to offense and I started playing both ways."

So a guy with 72 career tackles entering the season is now tasked with providing the offense with a power back and spelling linebackers on the defense.

Through seven games, he has 12 tackles this season.

Last week, though, he was needed more for offensive production at McCutcheon and it took just one carry to showcase why he thinks he's a running back first and foremost.

On the game's second play, Powers took a handoff and went up the gut for a 48-yard touchdown, his first of two rushing scores against the Mavericks. On nine carries, he gained 109 yards, his first 100-yard game.

Powers is averaging a ridiculous 9.3 yards per carry and has scored a touchdown on better than 24 percent of his carries this season.

His running style brings back recent memories of another Broncho tailback, the program's all-time leading rusher.

"He is kind of like a Marquis Munoz," Shanley said. "He maybe doesn't have the wiggle of a Marquis, but he certainly has that power and the mindset that I would rather run through you than run around you."

The shoulder is fine.

At least considering it's gone through offseason workouts along with eight grueling weeks of heavy contact.

But he, fitting for his name, powers through it.

"This time of year, if you are playing hard and playing the right way, you are not going to feel 100 percent," Shanley said. "There is no question he doesn’t feel 100 percent and he’s playing through some things, but he is a tough dude. He is one of those guys you have to scrape him off the field at the end of the game because he loves the game and loves his teammates so much."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

Lafayette Jeff (5-2) at Marion (0-7)

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Sagarin ratings: Lafayette Jeff 82.93, Marion 18.27

Series history: Lafayette Jeff has won seven straight, including 57-7 last season.

About Lafayette Jeff: The Bronchos average 46.3 points and allow 16.7. ... Lafayette Jeff is 4-0 in road games this season. ... The Bronchos are averaging 173.3 yards rushing and 141.1 yards passing per game. ... Leaders - Passing: Keyen Crowder (38-67, 583 yards, 11 TD, 2 INT), Ethan Smith (26-34, 388 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT). ... Rushing: Glenn Patterson (73 car., 561 yards, 5 TD), Siah Powers (29 car., 270 yards, 7 TD). ... Receiving: Abram Ritchie (15 rec., 299 yards, 4 TD), Asa Koeppen (13 rec., 249 yards, 6 TD), Brandon Jackson (16 rec., 211 yards, 3 TD). ... Tackles: Durya Minor (49), Joshua Milian (42), Jordan Scowden (42). ... Sacks: Scowden (2), Zachary Yuill (2), Kollin Leap (2). ... Interceptions: Micah Lillard (2). ... Kicking: Joel Garrido (36-37 PAT, 3-3 FG, long of 39).

About Marion: The Giants average 6.7 points and allow 42.7 per game. ... Marion has scored just two touchdowns in its four home games. ... The Giants average 167.9 rushing yards and 9 passing yards per game. ... Stat leaders - Passing: Tim Jones (13-29, 123 yards, 1 TD, 6 INT). ... Rushing: Jayden Johnson (151 car., 680 yards), Amir Howard (32 car., 143 yards, 1 TD). ... Receiving: Bruce Johnson (1 rec., 64 yards). ... Tackles: Soullah Oyler (32), Howard (28). ... Sacks: Howard (6). ... Kicking: Zane Scott (1-1 FG, long of 27).

Coach Shanley's take: "We have plenty of things to fix. There’s certain things that unfortunately week to week, we’re not putting on tape that we need to put on tape. If we are going to be a championship level team we need to disciplined enough in our drills and team settings throughout the week to develop really good practice habits and really good technique so that it transfers over to Friday night. There’s a few position groups right now that have a lot of progress to make if we are going to be playing championship caliber football here in a few weeks."