Zach Perkins commits football abilities to Cornell College ...

Waukon High School senior Zach Perkins signed a letter of commitment to play football for Cornell College in Mount Vernon at a Thursday morning, February 26 signing event in the Waukon High School gym. Pictured at right at that signing event with Zach are his parents, Stefanie and Steve Perkins.

“I felt like it was a great spot where I could live the next four years of my life,” Perkins said of making his decision to attend Cornell College and play football for the Rams. “The culture there was really great, and the education program was something that I really admired. I feel as if the coaching staff are not only great coaches but really good people.”

Perkins said the coaching staff has talked to him about playing on the defensive line for the football Rams. While serving a dual role on both the offensive and defensive lines for the Waukon football team during his senior season this past fall, Perkins led the grid Tribe’s defensive efforts with 53 total tackles that also included team-high totals of 39 solo stops, 14 tackles for loss and six quarterback sacks, earning himself First Team All-District Offensive Lineman and Academic All-District honors in Class 2A District 3, along with Academic All-State honors from the Iowa Football Coaches Association this past fall.

“I’m going there to play defensive line, they told me that,” Perkins offered. “I feel like I can contribute also as a leader with this recruiting class and hopefully help the team be where they want to be and hopefully help win a conference championship within the next four years.”

Perkins said he will be pursuing a major in Education at Cornell with further studies in History in hopes of becoming a high school History teacher. He said he also has a goal of coaching at the high school level of athletics.

“What really sold me was, I really feel that everybody believed in what Coach (Curt) Ritchie was building down there,” Perkins summarized about his commitment to the next level. “I really feel that my future teammates have all bought in, and that inspired me and gave me hope that something great is going on down there.”