Tommies football
Amari Powell recently put on a show for the ages. The senior QB from California in his first start of the season threw for 265 yards and three TDs, and rushed for a score himself, accounting for four of the seven touchdowns St. Thomas scored in its 55-17 victory over Valparaíso Oct. 18.
The six-foot signal caller’s effort that afternoon earned Powell the PFL (Pioneer Football League) Offensive Player of the Week. His performance was the second all-time single game passing in the Tommies’ DI era, and one of two QBs to throw for over 250 yards in the school’s DI history.
“The guys on the O [offensive] line just giving me love, giving me confidence,” said Powell afterwards. “Just going out there and just performing to the ability that those guys have has just been truly a blessing.”
Powell’s teammate, 5’7” sophomore receiver Quentin Cobb-Butler, also had a great afternoon on the gridiron in the same contest. Going into the game, the Woodbury native had recorded a TD in three consecutive games, and he kept the streak alive with his fourth touchdown in the third quarter, a 22-yarder from Powell.
Cobb-Butler also led the team with 81 receiving yards and has posted two 100+ receiving games this season. He proudly noted that his speed comes from his mother.
“My mom was a pretty good soccer player,” said Cobb-Butler. “I’m just working at it, getting better, especially with the ball in my hands.”
A three-sport high school athlete, Cobb-Butler disclosed that he didn’t know where he’d play when he arrived at St. Thomas — he was redshirted in 2024.
“Coming to college,” he continued, “I had no idea what position I was going to play until probably a month before getting here. I expected I was going to be a [kick] returner.”
But according to Tommies Coach Glenn Caruso, now in his 16th year, he foresaw great things for Cobb-Butler. “Quentin Cobb-Butler can do just about anything that we need him to,” stressed the coach. “A lot of people see his stature and they think he’s a slot receiver who’s scatty, and he can do that.
“Quentin Cobb-Butler can do just about anything that we need him to. Amani Powell is the person who we should all aspire to be.”
“But he can also go up, climb the ladder, and catch a contentious ball. He’s [also] one of our best blockers,” Caruso pointed out. The six-time National Coach of the Year, the most of all current coaches, absolutely gushes over both Powell and Cobb-Butler.
“Quentin is just such an amazing young man. He understands his responsibility to his team,” he said of Cobb-Butler. “I’ve never been before so comfortable when we’re on punt return and he is going to catch it … because he makes such good decisions.”
On Powell, “I think Amani is the person who we should all aspire to be,” surmised Caruso. “When you’re talking about a young man who is far from home, who has made a family out of that locker room and prepared himself, I couldn’t think of a better teammate that exemplifies that in terms of his physical play. He’s just a total sweetheart.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.