St. Peter’s Prep will have the best athletic training facility in Hudson County by the end of this year.
Officials from the private all-boys school broke ground last week on a $5.25 million athletic training facility that will be built adjacent to the school’s football practice field, the Rev. James F. Keenan, S.J. Field.
The 15,000 square foot, three story facility will be called the William O. Perkins III Athletic Center, named after the former Prep football player (Class of 1986) who donated $1.5 million to the project.
The Perkins Athletic Center is expected to be completed by this September, just in time for another Marauder football season.
The Perkins Athletic Center will feature a top-of-the-line weight training facility, a practice room for the wrestling team, three locker rooms complete with showers and a suite of offices and meeting rooms.
The center will replace the two buildings that have been in use at the location for the past decade, ever since the building of Keenan Field, but the wrestling room was ravaged twice by floods, the last devastating one as an aftermath of the flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy.
The rugby and lacrosse teams have also used Keenan Field for practices and some games. The soccer team has also used the facility for practice. The new project will not harm Keenan Field in any way imaginable, but will only enhance it, giving Prep the best athletic facility in Hudson County.
The building is named after William “Guy” Perkins, who is the chief executive officer for BrisaMax Holdings located in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Perkins is the son of Bill Perkins, who was one of the all-time greatest players to ever grace a Hudson County football field.
The elder Perkins was a great running back at Snyder High School in the late 1950s, earning a scholarship to the University of Iowa, where he played for three years (1960 through 1962), and was then drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 12th round of the 1963 NFL Draft.
The elder Perkins played for the New York Jets in 1963, then retired from football and became a successful attorney. Soon after, Perkins was elected to the New Jersey State Assembly in the 31st District. The elder Perkins is in ill health these days and is living in a hospice in New York.
Guy Perkins, who wasn’t a football star by any means, remembered at the groundbreaking ceremony what playing football at Prep meant to him.
“Even with little playing time, sports played a dramatic role in my life,” Perkins said. “Football gave me the tools I needed to be successful in life. I was so lucky to be a part of the Prep football family and I’m honored to be a part of this family.”
The school’s Board of Trustees all praised football coach and athletic director Rich Hansen for having the dream of the training facility to become a reality.
“Rich is someone who is well received by the NJSIAA as a leader,” said attorney Philip F. McGovern, Jr., the chairman of the Board of Trustees and a former basketball standout during his Prep days, graduating in 1976. “But it’s not just statewide. The respect is nationwide. It helped the project a lot.”
Hansen, who has guided the Marauders to four NJSIAA state titles during his tenure as head football coach, the last one coming in 2014, believes that the construction of the Perkins Center “is the next edition in a progress.”
“It affords us so many advantages that we never had,” Hansen said. “It’s a first class place. I’m excited for it. To see every idea and concept come to fruition is tremendous. I’m so grateful to Guy Perkins for putting his dollars where his heart is. Guy is a great role model for our kids, to be that successful at such a young age.”
Rev. Kenneth Boller, S.J., the school’s president, reminded the spectators of one important factor.
“It’s the first new building for St. Peter’s Prep in over 50 years,” Boller said. “It’s a first class building and it allows the neighborhood to see what we’re doing. It will have a big St. Peter’s Prep sign on it for everyone to see. Over the next 10 years, you’ll see a whole new face of Prep.”…
Speaking of Prep, top Marauder wide receiver K.J. Gray has de-committed from Boston College and will now go to Rutgers instead. Gray was one of the earliest to commit to Boston College, giving BC the word in the spring of his junior year. Now, Gray is new Rutgers coach Chris Ash’s third recruit since Ash took the job last month…
St. Anthony has climbed back into a familiar spot as the No. 1 team in New Jersey after defeating the Patrick School in the Dan Finn Classic at the Jersey City Armory on Jan. 16. Last week, the Friars defeated Trenton Central, 77-44, with Daniel Mading and Jagan Mosely each scoring 13 points. The Friars are now 12-0 on the season…
The transfer parade continues, even after the basketball season began more than a month ago.
Quincy Rutherford, a standout junior guard who last played at Harrison High School, has transferred in the middle of the season to Marist. Rutherford scored 26 in Harrison’s loss to Dwight-Englewood last Wednesday. The next morning, he appeared in the school’s office, seeking the waiver to transfer
Needless to say, the move frustrated Harrison head coach, Noel Colon, who is a North Bergen native and was a standout for the Bruins in his playing days. There’s no sense of loyalty any longer in high school basketball. Kids bounce back and forth across the map. It’s absurd…
Rutherford’s transfer and move to Bayonne all of a sudden comes at a great time, considering that the Royal Knights have huge games against Bayonne and private school Doane Academy this week, not to mention the upcoming Hudson County Tournament…
In girls’ basketball, Secaucus keeps rolling along, winning five straight games. The three wins last week all came by 30 points or more, beating Ridgefield (63-31), Leonia (66-26) and Harrison (69-33). Sophomore Lindsey Mack had 17 points, seven rebounds and four steals against Harrison and the Ulrich sisters, senior Kristina and freshman Amanda, had 14 points each in the win.
The Patriots are 7-0 in the New Jersey Interscholastic League-Liberty Division. So is upstart Queen of Peace, coached by former St. Anthony standout point guard Jiovanny Fontan. Again, with the story of transfers, as QP has welcomed in seven new players from different schools in northern New Jersey. It’s frankly the way of the world in New Jersey high school basketball.
Hudson Reporter Boys’ High School Basketball Top Five: 1. St. Anthony (12-0). 2. Hudson Catholic (8-3). 3. St. Peter’s Prep (7-4). 4. Union City (10-3). 5. Snyder (7-4)…
Hudson Reporter Girls’ High School Basketball Top Five: 1. Bayonne (11-2). 2. Lincoln (11-1). 3. Secaucus (9-3) 4. Marist (8-5). 5. North Bergen (9-4)…–Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.