East Xtra: Central Catholic's Hills gets to the point
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Central Catholic's Perry Hills threw for 1,582 yards and 10 touchdowns during his junior season.
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It must be nice to be Perry Hills.
Colleges have been actively recruiting the rising senior at Central Catholic for not just his skills as a quarterback, but also as a wrestler.
He led the Vikings to the Class AAAA Big East Conference championship, an undefeated regular season and to the WPIAL semifinals.
During the winter, Hills traded in his helmet and pads for a wrestling singlet and went out and won the WPIAL Class AAA title at 189 pounds.
For his efforts the Post-Gazette has named him its East Xtra Male High School Athlete of the Year.
Indeed, it is raining accolades for Hills, but he is more focused on finishing both his senior football and wrestling seasons.
"[Earning the Post-Gazette honor] is a great accomplishment," said Hills, a Plum resident. "I just want to keep working hard and get a state title this year."
Hills is referring to the fact that even though he was able to win a WPIAL championship, he came up short of his goal in the PIAA tournament.
Though Hills recently made a verbal commitment to play football at the University of Maryland, he is not planning on forsaking wrestling his senior year.
"I've been looking for a state title in wrestling ever since I got to Central," he said emphatically. "And I don't plan on quitting now."
Hills was originally scouted by the Maryland wrestling staff in January when he made his first visit to College Park. He returned in June to participate in Maryland's one-day football camp where he caught the eye of assistant coach Greg Gattuso, a former Pitt assistant and Duquesne head coach.
Once his senior football and wrestling seasons are complete, Hills can direct his attention to his future as a Maryland Terrapins quarterback. He had received offers from Akron, Buffalo, Kent State and Miami (Ohio), but he chose to take his talents to College Park.
"My mom wanted me to stay within five hours of home," said Hills. "[Maryland] has great academics and the campus was outstanding. I like that it's kind of a compact college campus, not in the city like Pitt. The dorms were nice and it has an old, Southern feel."
When Hills says he is planning to become a Terp, he really means it.
"I'm not one of those people who will de-commit," he said. "Unless something really bad happens, like the coach leaving."
First Published June 23, 2011 12:00 am
