Wildcat04

I trust ya. I would have loved to seen them play. I am sure it was truly special to see them all in action. I may be a little biased (as I'm sure we all are) because those guys were in my era and I know first hand what they are capable of. I did not get that luxury with the rest of these guys. I would dare to say we would all be shocked by just how much talent there was throughout the years if we were in the thick of things every year. I'm down with any Briar Jumper so to me this is just fun to see what everyone thinks. I love to learn about the past and talk about the future of SHS football.

Once again, just my thoughts on the matter. Plain and simple I would take any of them. There has been so much talent to come through Somerset High School that I feel a lot of great ones have gone unnoticed. I really believe there are a lot of great lineman who have played there that contributed to such great numbers by all these athletes. The unsung heroes are the ones I will remember from my days on the gridiron. What makes all these legends great is there humbleness. I have not met one past or present who doesn't give props to his teammates and not truly mean it.

That's just it, they don't have those credentials. Therefore, no one pays much attention to them in this conversation. They were victims of being great players on great teams, that took away from numbers that could of had. I fully believe that if any of these players played on any of those three players teams you mentioned their numbers would have went down too. I know from talks with many great past jumpers that the teams of the 70's and 80's were tough top to bottom so I'm sure Massey, Veneable, and Sexton speak for themselves and the competition was fierce as well, but those were different times with the Somerset area at that point still receiving a lot of attention. When Ford, Newell, and Perkins played the teams were stacked and the competition fierce as well, but the media had left for greener pastures and not much attention was paid to these guys. I truly believe in my heart in another time period or on teams with less talent in their areas these guys do big things number wise. Ford was a first team all state and no telling what he would have accomplished had he not torn his acl in spring going into his senior season, Perkins was first team punter and not sure of first, second, or honorable mention at Wr, Newell was a Mr. Football candidate until he went down way too early. These guys are human highlight reels and give me goose bumps every time I watch their highlights. The fact is we will never know if I am right or not, but that's why all this is just opinion.

I can't be 100% on any player past the 90's, but I am looking at this from a perspective of who could mass produce results on the field. Most of the players listed above were known for one aspect of their game. I'm sure they were good at more than one, but that's what their known for. The three I listed were all known for one area as well, but anybody who watched them knew they could be productive in more than one way. Love John Cole, but in my opinion he lacked a lot on the defensive side of the ball. If we are going for just who was the best at what they did, well he is probably number one on the list. There is no right or wrong answer is what I love about conversations like this and the fact that we have so many greats it truly his hard to pick just three.

Trey Perkins - His speed at wide receiver made him a threat every play to score. That same speed on defense made him tough to get over top in the secondary. His hands were superb, could catch anything thrown his way. When it comes to route running it doesn't get any crisper than his. Tyler Ford - Could play just about anywhere on the field if he need be. His knowledge of the game made his athletic abilities all the more dangerous. Played wide receiver at the same time Trey Perkins did which is why he never had incredible numbers at this position and for that matter neither did Trey. There was too much talent at the skill position to just target one guy. At safety his anticipation of where the Qb was going to go with the ball was a thing of beauty and if a RB made it past the front 7 they were running into a linebacker at safety. He laid the wood. Brandon Newell - An athletic freak of nature. Was a threat to go a thousand yards rushing and receiving, but due to the fact he played 2 years with the guys mentioned above did not put up insane numbers. His senior year he was ahead in just about every statistical offensive category before his season came to an end on an opening kick off in the third week. He was not very big from an eye test, but if you were to underestimate that during a game you would end up changing that thought quickly after one run in with him. There has been a lot of guys with great speed throughout the years of Somerset Football history and He would be in the top 3 of that great list. All these guys in my opinion would have broken numerous records at Somerset if they had not all been playing with one another. That to me is what makes them so great is that even in the midst of all that talent they still stood out. Those are just my three because to me they didn't just excel in one aspect of the game, they were threats in all aspects. Trey was a punter with a mule leg, a returner that could score almost anytime he touched it and so much more. Tyler could have started Qb if necessary ( was not because Chris Conley was great), his special teams play was just as great as the O and D. Brandon was also a threat to score every time he touched it on special teams and could run down anybody on Punt or Kick Offs. All three of these guys were not known for just one aspect of their game, but the whole package. If I get to make an all time team these guys would be my first three picks.