MARYSVILLE, Ohio (BVM) — From a young age, Gabe Powers has been surrounded by the game of football. As a young kid, his mother would take he and his brothers to the practice field where his father, Mike, has been a football coach for over two decades. 

“As soon as I could walk I was out there doing drills with my dad,” Gabe said.

Watching film with his dad and competing with his brothers has helped turn Gabe into one of the top prospects in the 2022 recruiting class. He is ranked by 247 Sports’ composite rankings as a five-star recruit, the No. 33 overall prospect and the top outside linebacker. 

Playing linebacker runs in the family, as it’s the position that his father played as well as his brothers. Mike currently coaches the position and his son at Marysville High School. 

“It’s an honor and a blessing to be able to coach my boys, and see them get out of the game what I got out of it,” Mike said. 

Gabe has received many offers from colleges including Penn State, Notre Dame and USC. But on Aug. 1, Gabe realized a dream by committing to Ohio State. 

“I was very blessed and humbled to get it,” Gabe said about the Ohio State offer. “When I got it, I was very excited. It was everything I dreamed of as a kid, playing football for Ohio State.”

The plan was to wait to commit, but the COVID-19 pandemic sped up the timeline with not being able to visit campuses across the country. Mike wanted to make sure that committing to Ohio State was his son’s dream, and not the pressure of family and friends who are big Ohio State fans. 

“I had tried to talk Gabe into considering the other offers, I wanted to make sure it was his dreams and goals and not ours,” Mike said. “Gabe said that he just wanted to play football, and play at his dream school which is Ohio State.” 

At Ohio State, there is a long tradition of great linebacker play, and Gabe hopes to add to that legacy. One of the positions discussed for Gabe is sam linebacker (strong side) which was manned by Pete Werner last season, and will be played by Baron Browning after Werner moved to the will linebacker spot (weak side).   

“Whatever the team needs me to do I will do,” Gabe said. “As of right now, the talk is sam linebacker, rushing off the edge sometimes, guarding tight ends and stopping the run.”

Mike identifies football IQ and versatility as some of the strengths in Gabe’s game, and said that he can play many positions on both offense and defense, as he stars on both sides of the ball for the Marysville Monarchs. 

“My physicality is a big strength, my length, speed and quickness and my IQ for the game,” Gabe said.  

At Marysville this season, he was used to cover teams’ best players at the tight end or receiver positions if needed. This could mean a role as the hybrid or “bullet” linebacker/safety position is a possibility for Powers in Columbus. 

“First and foremost his biggest strength is his football IQ, his understanding of the game,” MIke said. “Along with his God-given talents, you can’t teach 6-foot-4 and then running a 4.5 second 40 (yard dash) at 220 pounds,” Mike said. 

Gabe will be the fourth top-40 national recruit to join Ohio State from the central Ohio area since the 2018 recruiting class, joining Jalen Gill (Westerville South) in 2018, Zach Harrison (Olentangy Orange) in 2019 and Jack Sawyer (Pickerington North) in the 2021 class. 

“I’m looking forward to playing with other great athletes and looking forward to competing with them,” Gabe said. 

With the high school football season in trouble early in the year, Gabe had offers to travel to other places, such as IMG Academy in Florida, to ensure he got to play football this season. But that was never an option if Marysville was able to play this fall. 

“Gabe is a loyal kid to his hometown, and my brothers and I grew up here and played here,” Mike said. “That was never an option if there was a football season, but it was going back and forth until a few weeks before the first game.”  

The future Buckeye defender’s favorite memory of playing high school football so far is leading Marysville to winning the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division — the school’s first outright league title in 20 years. The Monarchs finished the shortened regular season at 5-1, and were a seven seed in Region II of the Ohio state playoffs. 

“The style of ball we play at Marysville, we’re a very aggressive team,” Gabe said. “All the teams we play against hate playing us because of our style of ball.” 

Powers had an impressive season on both sides of the ball. He made 78 total tackles with five sacks and seven tackles for loss. He also forced four fumbles — recovering two — along with grabbing an interception. 

On the offensive side of the ball, Powers had 704 yards rushing on 83 carries, good for an 8.4 yards per carry average. Powers added six catches for 77 yards and also threw a 40 yard touchdown pass.  

The Monarchs defeated Dublin Jerome in the first round of the playoffs, 35-14. In the second round, they would face the two seed and one of the top teams in the state — undefeated Clayton Northmont. Marysville would lose a close game in the matchup, 48-41. 

Gabe had a standout performance, totaling 10 tackles with two for a loss, while also forcing and recovering a fumble. On offense, he had 100 yards on the ground and a touchdown, and caught four passes for 45 yards while also throwing a 40-yard touchdown pass. 

After back-to-back playoff appearances, Gabe has big goals for the team in his senior season. 

“We’ve already made it to state the last few years, so just take it further and be even better,” Gabe said. “Competing for a state title is always the goal.”

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