Over the years the Downriver League has produced multiple NCAA athletes in football from Carlson’s Ian Stewart and Jalin Franklin to Allen Park’s Nico Tiberia and to Wyandotte’s Jalin Pitchford, but the line won’t stop there as Woodhaven will be sending Cornell Perry to Syracuse in the fall of 2022.
Perry may not be a household name just yet but the 6’1 Safety will take over as the face of the Downriver League this season. Perry is the latest in that line of talented Football players heading to play at a high-end division one football program saying, “I feel like we all came up through good programs, and learning football from a younger age helped us out,” in talking about the downriver league he said, “We’ve always had good athletes, and when we get our moments to shine, we take it.”
While he’s heading to Syracuse as a defensive back Perry is also a standout wide receiver for Woodhaven. Playing both sides at Woodhaven helps Perry out as he says “It gives me an idea on what I’m going to do. If I’m on offense I can look to see where I can break the defense or if I’m on defense I can think about what route I’d run.” Perry said that he had been talking to them since the fall and when the game versus Cass Tech happened it really showed them what he could do. What he said really helped his decision was that the staff was so welcoming and down to earth people. Perry’s two contacts at Syracuse were coaches Vinson Reynolds and Nick Monroe who Perry said he had many conversations with even before he committed to play for Syracuse, but once he did get offered, he was able to talk to Head Coach Dino Babers. Playing big time college ball is great for anyone and when the opportunity popped up for Perry, he said it was a blessing to be able to get that offer and he went on to say, “I just couldn’t resist that.”
With covid on going and players not able to take a regular visit to the school’s they are looking at, Perry had an interesting visit to Syracuse. Perry had to take a virtual visit to New York to tour Syracuse’s campus. About the visit, Perry said that he had the director of player personnel and a student on the call “The student talked about the campus and the player personnel guy talked about the benefits,” he went on to say the campus was nice and it all just seemed so convenient. He said that on the visit they just had the understanding that sometimes it can be hard for a student-athlete, but when push came to shove, they just offered so many things that he and his family thought were important.
Family is big for Perry as he said, “My family has been a huge part of my journey in sports,” Perry continued by saying a lot of his family has reached out and congratulated him. Family support is there also as Perry talked about how he gets the love of sports from both parents, but they never forced him to play any sports, some of his athletic ability comes from his father who Perry said played Division 1 baseball and could have gone pro if not for an injury. Perry said that through injuries and having to miss some family events the support for what he wants to do is always there.
Perry chimed in on the losses of Ryan Szczepaniak and Zach Phillips to college saying, “They are going to be big losses, but we have guys who are coming up that will be able to help fill in,” Perry went on to say with a little bit of leadership and coaching we will be able to step up and overcome those loses.
Cornell Perry and the rest of the Woodhaven Warriors open the season this Friday as they head on the road to take on the Taylor Griffins, kickoff at 7:00pm.