A Holy Trinity Academy graduate had to do a complete 180 degrees in his fourth-year at the University of Saskatchewan.
Former HTA linebacker Charlie Power has made the switch from defence to offence on the U of S Huskies football team this season.
Power was told in morning workouts after the 2011 season that the Huskies were considering moving him from outside linebacker to slotback for the Huskies.
“My special teams coach came up and asked me: ‘Do you have hands?” and I told him ‘Yeah, not bad. Why?” the 21-year-old Power said. “He said, ‘You mean they haven’t told you yet? They are thinking of moving you to offence — an inside slotback look.’”
By the time spring camp arrived, he was working on the offensive side of the ball full-time.
He’s not only held his own this season with the Huskies, he’s also held on to the ball. Power is fourth on the Huskies in receiving with 18 receptions for 231 yards in eight games.
Power admits he was frustrated at first to bide his time for three years at linebacker and, just when he thought he was going to start, he was switched to offence.
After all, while he saw some action at receiver with the Knights, he was Holy Trinity Academy’s defensive player of the year all three years he wore the green and black in Okotoks.
“With the guys graduating from linebackers I thought I was going to start,” Powers said. “So I had some mixed feelings, but now, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.”
He said he started to get comfortable when he had six catches in a 35-26 loss to the Regina Cougars on Sept. 21. Power’s longest gain this season was 34-yard touchdown catch and run against the UBC Thunderbirds on Oct. 26.
He said getting to know the offence mentally wasn’t tough, however, getting the footwork down was a problem.
“It was difficult learning to run the routes,” Power said. “It’s a completely different body movement from linebacker. It took me a while to get used to it, but I could still get a lot better.”
He said his timing has continued to improve with quarterback Drew Burko.
Power has also learned to take a hit. Power used to love to dish out hits as a linebacker and, in football, it definitely is better to give than to receive. He said so far, he hasn’t been clobbered after making a reception.
“I haven’t taken any major hits,” Power said with a chuckle. “The only time I have got my bell rung is making blocks on defensive ends.”
He’s still got the linebacker mentality. At six-foot-three, 230 pounds, Power is often the lead blocker from his inside slot position.
Power is still making tackles for the Huskies. He has five unassisted tackles on specialty teams.
U of S head coach Brian Towriss said putting Power on offence put a good athlete on the field for the Huskies.
“He’s very athletic and we needed a big body receiver who could run,” Towriss said. “Secondly, we felt although he would have played some at linebacker, he wouldn’t have started. He is one of our better athletes and we wanted to get him on the field.”
Power is a bit like some of those cool-looking vehicles at the Okotoks Show and Shine. They look nice, but there is still some fine-tuning to be done.
“He’s a work in progress in terms of running routes, but he is very effective as a blocker and a receiver,” Towriss said. “He catches the ball well and he’s fast. He’s learning how to run more effective routes, but he’s been effective for us.”
Power is often brought into the box to help with blocking. Don’t let the size fool you though. He’s ran a 4.55 seconds 40-yard dash. He was a member of the HTA 4x100m relay provincial gold medal team in 2008.
Towriss said he expects Power to be used more in 2013.
“He’s got a great work ethic and we know he will be working on his routes and in the weight room in the offseason,” Towriss said.
Power has also made the adjustment in the classroom. He was able to keep his head above water in his studies his first few years in Saskatchewan, but he has turned a corner in this year.
His marks are in the 80 per-cent range and he expects to graduate in the next year to year and a half with a business degree.
The Huskies finished with a 5-3 record in the Canada West Football League.
However, their season came to an end when they were beaten by the Regina Rams 31-9 on Nov. 2.
The Rams will now play the University of Calgary Dinos this weekend at McMahon Stadium for the Western final.
