After breakout season, Jeannette receiver Jayce Powell ready for encore

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, August 13, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Jayce Powell has been stealing scenes in Jeannette football games since he broke into the starting lineup as a freshman.

Deep routes, posts, seam shots, catch-and-runs. He’s done it all.

Last year, he broke through.

He grabbed 57 receptions for 1,023 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging a brow-raising 17.9 yards per catch on the way to an all-state sophomore year.

Those numbers are impressive, but the junior wide receiver would rather talk about how his team is doing on the eve of a new football season.

“I’ll take wins over any stats,” Powell said. “I don’t care if I have zero catches or 152 touchdowns, as long as we win. I want to win championships. I want to go undefeated this year.”

Jeannette coach Tommy Paulone said Powell is a student of the game, honing his craft as much cerebrally as he does physically.

“He absorbs everything,” Paulone said, not referencing his receiver’s sticky hands but rather his attention to film study. “He’ll take one tendency, something he sees, and make it happen. He looks for advantages on film.

“If he sees something in practice, he’ll speak up and tell me.”

The 5-foot-8, 165-pound Powell has all the tools to be a big-play receiver, Paulone said.

Eastern Michigan invited him to its junior camp. Powell, who runs a 4.5-second 40-yard dash, was one of 90 invites nationally.

He also attended Villanova’s camp.

“It’s the way he gets separation from DBs,” the coach said. “He has great football intelligence. He creates that window for (quarterbacks) to get him the ball.”

Paulone also appreciates Powell’s leadership and character. The junior has an air of humility about him and wears it well.

He also carried a 4.0 grade-point average last year.

“I doubt there have been many captains named as sophomores,” Paulone said. “He has one of the best attitudes on the team.”

Setting an example for teammates is part of Powell’s game plan.

“I have to put on for the kids who look up to me,” Powell said. “I need to show them the ropes.”

Powell was a key guard on Jeannette’s WPIAL Class 2A basketball championship team last winter, and he wants to play a pivotal role in a football title run, which would be the storied Jayhawks’ first since 2020.

Jeannette’s 786 wins are second most in WPIAL history to Aliquippa (790).

“You always want to be the favorite. That’s what you play for,” Powell said. “We want to come out and win a WPIAL title. At the very least, that is what we want to do.”

Powell also had 44 tackles, eight passes defended and two fumble recoveries last season when Jeannette made an unexpected run to the WPIAL semifinals.

His competitiveness is hard-wired. Any game he tries, he finds success.

He used to play soccer and baseball and was good at both.

“I averaged like four goals a game,” he said. “In baseball, I played every position. Pitcher, catcher, second, third. I play golf, too. I try to get out to Cloverleaf, Norvelt, wherever I can.”

Powell’s stepfather, Darius Brown, an assistant coach at Jeannette and former standout Jayhawk, has been a big inspiration to him.

“Fats, he’s the whole reason why I play,” Powell said, touching on his guardian’s nickname, “Fatman.” “He has helped me with everything to get to where I am.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

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