Editor's note: Manistee's Landen Powers and teammate Eric Smith each signed to play football for Olivet College at a ceremony held at Manistee High School this week. Today's story focuses on Powers, and a story on Smith will be published in Saturday's Manistee News Advocate.
Landen Powers was without question Manistee's workhorse this season.
As running back in the Chippewas' veer offense, the senior was looked to early and often to gain tough yards and was counted on to move the chains.
The work he put in off the field, however, is the reason Powers will be playing at the next level. This week, he — along with his teammate Eric Smith — signed a letter of intent to play football for Olivet College next year.
"You work so hard for four years — up in the weight room, on the practice field — and you're always thinking, 'What can I do next? How can I make myself better,'" Powers said Wednesday. "And this is that next step."
Powers had a breakout senior year, as he helped lead Manistee to a 4-2 record in the regular season, earning them the No. 1 seed and home field advantage in its Division 6 playoff district. Powers and the Chippewas secured the program's first-ever playoff win too, with a 62-6 victory over Kalkaska.
Powers led the Chippewas in both rushing and scoring by compiling 846 yards and 12 touchdowns on 119 carries, which was good for 7.1 yards per attempt. When he wasn't moving the chains or capping Manistee's drives off with a score, he was helping his defense by putting opponents' backs against the wall as a punter, averaging nearly 40 yards per punt.
Powers' work in the backfield earned him all-Lakes 8 Conference and all-region honors, while his leg helped land him on this season's all-state list as a first team punter for Division 5-6 football.
On Wednesday, Manistee coach Troy Bytwork credited the countless hours in the weight room to Powers' success on the field.
"I've done this job for nearly two decades, and these are the days that are the most special," he said, speaking of both Powers and Smith signing to play for Olivet. "When you see your players have the opportunity to play college football, it exemplifies the work that it takes to be successful in this sport and generally in life.
"These two chose to improve themselves in the weight room and become immensely stronger. And that's not an automatic process. ... Without all the work they did there, they would not be sitting here now."
Bytwork said Powers is the latest in a growing list of hard-nosed backs for the program.
"The fullbacks that we've had here, all of them share a quality of toughness," he said. "We're leaving individuals unblocked by scheme in our veer, so these backs know they're going to get hit 30, 40, 50 times a game, depending on how many plays you have. Landen certainly had that level of toughness.
"And he really came a long ways at running back," he added. "As a sophomore, he was juggling the ball a little bit, and so ball security was a point of emphasis the last couple years for him. Aside from the numbers he put up, he didn't put it on the ground his senior year. He just did a heck of a job back there."
Olivet College is an NCAA Division III program and member of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
Powers hopes to play the position he knows best for the Comets.
"I still want to be a running back," he said, "and I'm going to work my hardest to do that.
"That's a very big job, and it's not handed to you. And when you're joining a team with guys who have already been there for two, three years, it's kind of hard to start in front of them.
"But my goal is to start eventually. I want to be a leader."
Powers certainly was with the Chippewas, and he's taking plenty of memories with him.
"I'm going to always remember the good teammates I had here," he said. "The leaders we had on this team. We always played as brothers and it was fun going through it with them, because you always knew at the end of the day, these are my friends too."
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