Marblehead’s Perlow gets a chance to continue football at Amherst

Sam Perlow, who captained the Marblehead High football team to its first winning season since 1992, has been granted early acceptance to Amherst College.”(When) Amherst offered me a spot the day before Thanksgiving, I realized it was really, for me, the best of all worlds-amazing academics and networking, great people, beautiful campus and competitive football,” Perlow said on Thursday. “Plus, it is great to be wanted.”Perlow played tight end and defensive end for this year’s Marblehead team, which finished with a 6-5 record and contended for the Northeastern Conference South title until Thanksgiving. He finished the season with 61 tackles (30 solo, 31 assisted), 13.5 sacks, five tackles for losses, three forced fumbles, one interception (which he returned for a touchdown), and two fumble recoveries.On offense, he had eight catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball five times for 21 yards and scored a touchdown.Perlow is a two-time captain of the Magicians and made the Northeastern Conference South all-star team this past season.Although he was recruited by several Ivy League colleges, including Harvard, Brown and Dartmouth, Perlow committed to early acceptance at Amherst. The recruiting process involved a visit to the Amherst camp this past summer, and to a Lord Jeffs game during football season. After the game, Perlow spent a night on campus “and got a sense of what being there was like,” he said.Amherst offered him a spot on the day before Thanksgiving and his final high school football game. He said Lord Jeffs coach E.J. Mills asked him to make a quick decision, and that the coaches at Bentley, who he called “terrific,” had offered him a spot there several weeks before.”I could have waited a few more weeks to see what happened with some schools like Brown, Harvard and Cornell,” Perlow said, “but I really love Amherst and did not want to run the risk that it would not be available at that point.He added, “(As) I thought about it, Amherst is the best fit for me, so there was no reason not to jump at it ? It is one of the best schools in the whole country and really hard to get into, so I decided it was not worth the risk.Perlow’s first-quarter average at Marblehead was slightly over 4.0. Division 3 colleges do not award athletic scholarships.The Lord Jeffs are involved in one of the oldest and most prestigious rivalries in the country, with Williams College.”I have to tell you, I am really excited about it,” he said. “I am going to continue to work very hard and hope that on the football field I will get to contribute earlier than I might have at some other places.”I have heard horror stories about some kids’ recruiting experiences, but not mine. I was treated great by everyone who showed interest, and the last year was really a lot of fun. While every kid wants to play in the NFL, to me, it is amazing that football can help me get into a school like Amherst.”