After having a successful season and career, running back Sam Pero has been awarded the 2014 Maxwell Football Club Mini Max for his outstanding performance, academics, and community service efforts.
With a total of 3747 rushing yards, 523 carries, and 47 total touchdowns in his entire high school career, Senior Sam Pero has had one exceptional career here at Colonia High School. To add icing to the cake, Pero has also won the Maxwell Football Club Mini Max award for all of his hard efforts both on the field and off. All of the Mini Max Award recipients will be honored at a dinner to be held on Sunday January 11, 2015 at the St. David the King Great Hall in Princeton Junction.
Pero’s Varsity career all started when he was only a sophomore here at CHS. He has 8 varsity starts, which is a considerable amount of time for only being a sophomore, but in those 8 games he somehow managed to produce over 700 rushing yards, and scored 6 touchdowns throughout the entire season. When he came back as a junior, Pero stepped his game up drastically. He played 2 more games than last season, but somehow doubled his rushing yards total from 716 yards his sophomore year to 1412 rushing yards his junior year. He also more than doubled his touchdown totals from 6 to 15 by the end of his junior year. By his senior year, Pero became to go-to running back and played every regular season game plus the playoff games along with the states championship game. He achieved 229 carries, ran for over 1600 yards, and finished with 20 touchdowns.
After a successful season, Sam Pero was nominated for the Heart of a Giant competition.
Along the way, Pero also caught a lot of people’s attention, including USA Football. This season he was nominated for “The Heart of a Giant Award” which is given to “players with an unparalleled work ethic and passion for the game.” On his profile page on The Heart of a Giant, Pero states “In the off-season I am a very dedicated worker. In the winter I wrestle to improve my balance, strength, speed and stamina. It also builds character and has turned me into a more responsible and self-determined player on the football field.” If Pero wins the Heart of a Giant Award, Colonia High School will be given a $5,000 equipment grant.
Along with the Heart of a Giant award nomination, he also won the Mini Max award and has been asked to attend the dinner event on January 11th. Pero was one of the 57 winners in the Tri State area, and has the potential to win a bigger award. “The winner of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Players of the Year will be the candidates for the Club’s 30th Jim Henry Award as the Outstanding Player in the region. The winner of the Jim Henry Award will be announced as part of the Maxwell Football Club’s National Awards Gala which will be held on March 13, 2015 at the Tropicana Casino Resort in Atlantic City. The MFC will also present its collegiate and professional awards at this event.”
