Kameron Powell, uncommitted Texas 2025 wide receiver, finding end zone each game

McKinney North (Texas) junior scored 6th touchdown of season in Bulldogs' Week 5 win at Tyler High

TYLER, TEXAS - Kameron Powell knows if he can keep scoring at least a touchdown a game, his recruiting stock can soar.

At the midway point of his team’s regular season, the junior McKinney North wideout already has had a penchant for finding the end zone.

Powell has scored at least one touchdown in each of his team’s first five games. It didn’t take him long to tack on another score, as he had the Bulldogs’ first TD in their eventual 31-26 win at Tyler High on Thursday.

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“That’s pretty good,” said Powell (6-foot-3, 200 pounds). “It’s making me feel like my QB trusts me to give me the ball, so as long as I’m doing my job, I feel like everybody else will.”

Powell now has six TDs on the season and was the team’s top receiver in Thursday’s win with three catches for 67 yards. So far, he has 22 catches for 413 yards, averaging 3.7 touchdowns per reception.

He has received offers from several in-state schools including Houston, Baylor, UTSA and North Texas. He also has offers from, among others, Utah and Arizona State, both currently in the Pac-12 but will be playing in the Big 12 starting next season.

Which means should Powell decide to sign with either the Utes or Sun Devils, it means an opportunity to return to Texas to play against the Big 12’s schools in the state.

“That’s a goal,” Powell said. “Texas is the biggest football state to me, so that’s what I like.”

As for the present, Powell plans to visit Texas State this weekend and also plans to visit Baylor later in the year.

“My recruiting is coming along pretty good,” he said. “I think it’s going to go up if I keep playing well. But I try not to think about it that much.”

TURNING FROM THE BLOCK TO MAIN

Powell is in his second season as a starting receiver, but last season was used mainly for blocking purposes.

Going into his junior year, he was informed he was going to get more opportunities to catch the ball.

“Last year, I was more like a block end,” Powell said. “I wasn’t really the main guy, but this year, I had to work on my route running, catch radius, and being a leader really more because I’m the main guy.”

Furthermore, he credits Colin Hitchcock, the Bulldogs’ senior quarterback, for his ability to deliver the ball to Powell.

“He’s pretty good at getting me the ball,” Powell said of Hitchcock, who threw two TD passes in Thursday’s win. “He’s a pretty tough QB. … I’ll say he’s pretty underrated because he gets me the ball right where I want it and we have like that communication if I’m getting the ball or not, so that’s what I like.”

McKinney North's Kameron Powell / Photo by Greg Powers, TexasFootball.com

SETTING EARLY TONES

Powell capped the Bulldogs’ opening drive with a highlight-reel touchdown.

From the Tyler 42-yard line, he caught a short sideline route from quarterback Colin Hitchcock and was quickly surrounded by three Lions. But somehow, Powell was able to shake loose and sprint down the sideline while eluding another tackler to reach the end zone.

McKinney North gets on the board first! Nice pass from Colin Hitchcock and Kameron Powell does the rest.@MNHS_Football up 7-0 on Tyler John Tyler early pic.twitter.com/2WgEMyCIXf

— Carter Yates (@Carter_Yates16) September 22, 2023

“I’m not going to lie, I didn’t think I would stay up,” Powell said. “I caught it, and then there were like three guys right there.

“I wasn’t going to try to go down, I feel like I wanted to set the tone so I just kept running and scored.”

Right after Powell’s TD helped give North a 7-0 lead, the Bulldogs successfully executed an onside kick - with Isiah Griffin making the recovery - and scored again to go up 14-0 before the Lions ran a single offensive play.

“That was huge; we were talking about doing that all during the pregame,” Powell said. “So our coach (Kendall Brewer) sets the tone, so that’s what we do.”

GO-TO GUYS

While Powell has emerged as a primary go-to threat, he’s far from the only weapon on the Bulldogs’ offense.

They also feature players like senior tailback Jayden Walker, an Army commit who rushed for 188 yards and scored two TDs Thursday, and senior tight end Nate Markiewicz, a UTSA commit who caught Hitchcock’s other TD pass.

“I like that most of the people (on offense) have got offers and it’s kind of like opened up doors for other people on our team, too,” Powell said. “We don’t really try to talk about offers all that much, but it’s good, though.”

GETTING A LEG UP

McKinney North has opened District 7-5A Division I play with two hard-fought wins. Last week, they got a 28-21 win against Lancaster, which avenged a 74-7 loss the season before.

Then on Thursday, the Bulldogs scored the first 24 points and later built a 31-7 second-half lead before fending off a furious Lions’ rally late in handing Tyler High its first loss of the season.

With that win, North (4-1, 2-0) currently stands atop the district before Friday’s games unfold. But back-to-back games in October against state title contender Longview (Oct. 20) and undefeated Forney (Oct. 27) may determine if the Bulldogs - who went 7-4 and lost in the first round of the playoffs last season - have more staying power.

“I think this year’s team, we’re all kind of like in the same age group,” Powell said. “I guess we like know each other more; last year was like older guys and younger guys, kind of a mix. But now we’re kind of like more as a brotherhood.”

-- Buck Ringgold | buck@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveTX