Hayden Perusich has no problem playing nearly every position on the football field. He does, however, have an issue in preseason when players must identify where they want to play.
“It makes filling out forms tough,” he said.
Through his four years with Robbinsville High, Perusich played every position except cornerback and center, and with three games left in his career he joked “they might as well put me there so I can get it all done.”
Standing 5-11, 185 pounds, Perusich has been asked to run, throw, block and catch the ball. On defense he has been at safety, mostly at linebacker and sometimes at defensive end.
“We keep his preferred lineman jersey in our equipment bag in case during the course of a game he has to switch from number seven to a lineman’s number,” coach Andrew Patterson said. “Last year we lost a couple linemen, he started at left tackle for us the final five games of the year and wore 57.
“He’s the one player who if we said ‘Hey you’re playing this position this week, learn it.’ he’ll do it.”
Asked where his versatility comes from, Perusich is puzzled.
“Honestly I don’t even know,” he said. “ I just do what I’m told. I trust the guys and trust my coaches to make sure that we can all get it done. I never really thought it was too hard. Our coaches set everyone up for success so if I need help I know they have my back to help me out.”
Patterson feels that Perusich’s desire for the Ravens to succeed has a lot to do with it.
“His versatility comes from the fact he’s willing to do anything to help his teammates,” the coach said. “In the four years he’s been here he’s never said no to me if we needed him to do something for us. He’s intelligent enough to know we’re not gonna ask him to do it unless it’s really needed.
“Size-wise he’s right in that sweet spot. He could be a somewhat smaller but strong lineman. He’s pushing the same size as a linebacker, running back, or fullback. He’s kind of in the Goldilocks zone and he’s got some muscle on him.”
When it comes to statistics, don’t look for Perusich’s name atop among the leaders in any category but “positions played.” He is too spread out to pile up numbers at any one position. But he’s listed under most of the categories.
Entering Robbinsville’s regular-season finale at Trenton, Perusich threw for 45 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 40 yards and a TD, caught four passes, made 40 tackles and forced two fumbles. He also returned two punts for 18 yards and he plays on all but two of the Ravens special team units.
Asked if he ever comes off the field, Perusich hesitated before answering.
“Yeah, I guess I never do when I think about it,” he said.
It has been that way his whole career. Playing for the Robbinsville Pop Warner program, he never had a set position. He played from kindergarten to fifth grade before dropping football in favor of baseball and basketball.
“But not playing football I missed the game,” Perusich said. “I’d go watch them play at the high school every Friday and I wanted to get back.”
He went out for Robbinsville as a freshman quarterback. Noah Schwartz was the projected starter but when he got hurt, Perusich stepped in and played quarterback and safety. As a sophomore he was the back-up quarterback and a full time special teams player. He also played inside and outside linebacker, fullback, tailback and wing back.
Last year he was a backup QB, running back, linebacker/defensive end and offensive tackle.
Aside from what he’s done on the field this year, one of Perusich’s biggest contributions came in training camp when he battled sophomore Gavin Yablonowitz for the starting quarterback slot.
“Hayden realized we lost our quarterback and that Gavin was young and still learning stuff,” Patterson said. “Hayden became the competition all summer and all preseason, pushing Gavin and trying to take the job from him. He made it an actual competition where he could teach the young guy because he’d been back-up for so long he knew the whole package.
“It really came down to the last preseason scrimmage, and we had to make a decision. Hayden made it so close I had to wait until the second scrimmage to make sure. That really pushed Gavin and made him better.”
Losing out in the competition didn’t faze Perusich. Asked what his favorite position is, he said “Wherever it helps us win games. That’s the most fun part.”
Pressed further about whether he prefers defense or offense, the answer was not surprising.
“Whatever helps us win, they’re both fun to me,” he said. “I just like being on the field.”
Of everywhere he has played, Perusich said quarterback is “100 percent” the most challenging. But playing there as a freshman helped when he started performing at other spots.
“That made it easier for everything,” he said. “The quarterback has to know what the line’s gonna do, you have to know every route. Coach also preaches to us that everyone has to know everything and I agree with that 110 percent because it makes your job so much easier when you know what the guy next to you is doing.”
When the question was posed to Patterson of where his swiss army knife performs the best, the coach gave an intangible answer.
“I would say he’s best at being a great teammate,” the coach said. “He just wants us to be successful. I couldn’t really tell you his best spot. Defensively he’s solid. We know what we’re gonna get from him, he’s not an all-state linebacker but gets the job done and does it very well.
“On offense he’s carried the ball. We put him in as a wildcat QB and he scored a touchdown on a run. He’s scored touchdowns as a running back. He’s a great blocker if he’s blocking for Chris (Naperkoski). He can go out and catch a pass, you can line him up in the slot.”
Patterson feels that Perusich is one of the top five most versatile players he has ever coached at Robbinsville. He loves the fact that the only numbers that matter to him are wins and losses.
“He puts in a lot of the work so the other guys can get the stats,” Patterson said. “Gavin’s a hard worker at quarterback but without Hayden there all summer and all preseason, Gavin doesn’t get pushed to be better coming into the season.
“Hayden’s just great. He’s always happy, always smiling, always helpful. He’s a captain this year. It’s kind of like ‘Hey who do you aspire to be if you want to be a good player for Robbinsville?’ There’s a couple guys you can look at, and he’s one of those guys. You point to him and say ‘Hey this is what it takes to win to be productive, to be helpful, to be successful.’”
Perusich pays the price after games, saying he’s tired on Friday nights but “I don’t feel anything until Saturday morning when I get out of bed. That’s when everything starts hurting.”
He’s hardly hurting in the classroom, where he has a 3.4 grade point average in addition to being a member of Robbinsville’s Chinese Club and varsity baseball team.
Peruisch has been looking at colleges and so far James Madison and Delaware have caught his eye, but he is still deciding. One thing is certain, he will miss playing under those Friday night lights.
“I love football,” he said. “I don’t even know how to explain. It’s just really fun. It definitely keeps your head awake. You don’t think about school when you’re playing, you don’t think about anything but the people next to you. That’s what’s fun for me. Everyone is just trying to get the same thing and you can’t do it by yourself.”
It’s all about enjoyment… once he gets past filling out those forms.
Ravens football player Hayden Perusich stands with members of his family before the team’s game against Hamilton West at Robbinsville High School on Oct. 18, 2024. Perusich did not play in the 43-21 loss due to an injury. Pictured with him are his brother, Alec, father, Scott, and mother, Robyn. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.),
