YORK - Thanks to a lot of hard work as a York Duke, Michael Powell will extend his football career . and his education.

The Duke quarterback signed Wednesday to play football at Winona State University, an NCAA Division II program in Winona, Minn. The Lopers of UNK are also a D-II program, although they don't play the Warriors.

At York, Powell played his senior year under Glen Snodgrass in what was Snodgrass' first year as head coach of the Dukes. Snodgrass said his bright young protégé has a big upside as a collegiate player, starting between his ears.

"This year," he said, Powell was "a player who has been all in for football. He's a great student of the game" who "really picked up the intricacies" of the offense Snodgrass brought with him from a stellar coaching career at Overton.

The Dukes use a computer program that tracks how much time each player spends studying his football lessons.

"Michael by far watched more film than anybody else" last season, reported Snodgrass, who said not to forget Powell "is a very good free safety" on the other side of the ball, too. "He has as good a range as a pass defender as any free safety we saw this year. And he's tough. He played through a lot of injuries this year."

Powell said all those aches and pains have faded into the distant past.

"I'm healthy and good to go," he said with a smile.

Powell made recruiting visits to Chadron State, Northern State at Aberdeen, S.D., and Southwest Minnesota State at Marshall, but when he made the trip to Winona he knew, this was the place for him.

As a purple-clad Warrior he will play for Coach Tom Sawyer, engineer of 14 consecutive winning records at WSU. Sawyer has the most career wins and highest winning percentage in

Warrior history. He's guided WSU to five Division II playoff appearances and two bowl games.

A former Warrior player and 1983 WSU grad, Sawyer's team ended last season on a four-game win streak and finished 7-4.

The future for Powell with Sawyer is at quarterback.

"He's very accurate with the football and a great competitor," said Sawyer. "He is very athletic which gives us the capability of him being a two dimensional quarterback. Our plan is to redshirt him this year and then have him battling for the quarterback job in year two or three."

Powell will spend some time working out on campus this summer before arriving in Winona to stay in August. In between he'll be under the guidance of a nutritionist while completing a workout program of WSU's design.

Powell said he'll pursue a degree in secondary education.

Asked how Snodgrass helped prepare him for this next big step, Powell said, "He showed me how to watch film" and "how to prepare for games." The weight program directed by Snodgrass and available to all YHS students gave him a leg up on other college prospects, too.

Powell is the son of Laureen and Russ Powell.

His mother said, "We are excited for him. It's something he's wanted for a long time. To see his dream come true is exciting."