WSSU ready to go: Bright lights of TV will shine on opener at UNC Pembroke

Chase Powell
WR/ 5'-8"/175
Wise High School
Upper Marlboro, Maryland

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- The perception is that Winston-Salem State has a grizzled and veteran team of Division I transfers who are approaching their mid-20s.

Some players fit that mold, but Chase Powell is a fresh face, and he’ll be the only freshman starter in Thursday’s season-opener at UNC Pembroke (8 p.m., CBSSN Ch. 537).

Powell, a 5-9 and 185-pound wide receiver from Upper Marlboro, Md., is 18 and barely shaves. But his speed and ability to catch the ball make him an asset.

"I’ve just been pretty focused, and I’ve tried to work hard and do what the coaches ask me to do,” said Powell, a former running back who gained 1,529 yards and scored 29 touchdowns as a high-school senior in 2012. “The hardest thing has been learning the plays and things like that.”

Powell also accepts the fact that he’ll be slightly nervous come kickoff.

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