FALL RIVER – By now, everyone has heard of Sam Perry and his prowess on the baseball diamond. The Diman senior will continue his career at UMass (Amherst) in his next chapter as a student athlete.

This fall, he is also lighting it up on the gridiron, and the senior quarterback has the Bengals chasing dreams once thought unreachable.

“It’s very exciting,” Perry said. “I knew that we were destined for one year to pop, but I didn’t know if it was going to be with me here. Now that it is, we’re 4-0 to start off the season and looking really like we’re not going to stop. It’s very exciting to be a part of this great team.”

The 15th-ranked Bengals have emerged as a sudden dark horse in a loaded Div. 2 field. With an average margin of victory of 8.75, the Bengals have put the Mayflower Athletic Conference on notice.

Luke Bahry has been coach at Diman for four seasons and has a hard time recounting many who surpass the explosive ability Perry brings.

“He’s amongst the top-tier,” said Bahry. “At Diman, he’s the best athlete I’ve ever had here. Overall, in my 10 years of coaching, he’s certainly up there. Up there with the likes of (former Durfee star) Jason Hall, who is at Villanova on a four-year scholarship now. But as far as multi-sport athletes, he’s the best I’ve ever had.”

As a junior, Perry passed for 2,280 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also scored 10 more TDs rushing.

This year? It appears the senior is poised to surpass those incredible numbers, with 873 passing yards and 10 touchdowns to go with 36 carries for 158 yards and six more scores rushing.

In a heated contest with Tri-County (a 35-21 victory) last week, the Bengals put their fate in the hands of Perry, and he delivered in the closing minutes once again.

“It’s been a lot of fun to see,” laughed Bahry. “He started for four years at various positions. His freshman year, he was a little pudgy receiver, who was very good. Just seeing his growth and development, what he has become as a person and teammate has been special… for instance (this past) Saturday, he’s not sliding. He ran a QB sneak on fourth-and-two to basically seal the game.”

Diman’s crowning win to this point may have just come in Week Three, when the Bengals erupted for a drubbing of Blue Hills Sept. 28, ending a skid against a MAC rival that had consistently had their number.

“We haven’t beaten them in a really long time,” said Perry. “It seems like the conference is theirs every year. To beat them, 34-8? It was an awesome feeling. I obviously hadn’t beat them since I’ve been here, and it’s been pretty bad. They just seemed more physical. This year, we kind of took it to them, they didn’t expect it.”

Things now bode well for Perry and his teammates as they enter the prime portion of their MAC schedule. The Bengals face Southeastern this week, then a challenged Old Colony squad.

“This year, I think every half, every quarter has been 100%,” said Perry. “That’s helped us keep teams to low scores, even scoreless into the second half when we’ve really needed our defense, and our offense is a bit different this year. We have really good receivers on both sides, good running backs, and we’re making everything work.”

NAME: Samuel Perry

SCHOOL: Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School

AGE: 17

HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6’0 175

POSITION: Quarterback

NICKNAME: Perry Power

FAMILY: Father Brian, mother Christine, sister Sarah, brother Nick

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: I had three no-hitters last year for my high school season. I had 2,400 passing yards last season in football. I received a D1 offer for baseball. I won athlete of the year at Diman last year.

FAVORITE PERSONAL MOMENT IN SPORTS: Throwing my first no-hitter in my last high school season. It was a home game with a lot of family and friends and everyone went crazy for me. I was so locked in and I was in a zone and nobody could get me out of it.

FAVORITE COURSE IN SCHOOL: Math

LEAST FAVORITE COURSE IN SCHOOL: History

FAVORITE PIGOUT FOOD: Steak

FAVORITE TV SHOW: The Rookie

FAVORITE MOVIE: The Sandlot

FAVORITE MUSICIAN: Boss man Dlow

FAVORITE VIDEO GAME: MLB The Show 24

FAVORITE SMARTPHONE APP: Block Blast

FAVORITE TWITTER ACCOUNT TO FOLLOW: The MLB account

FAVORITE PRO TEAM: Red Sox

FAVORITE ATHLETE: Jarren Duran

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A GAME: I like to stretch before bed and when I wake up and have a really good dinner and breakfast.

IF YOU COULD BE SOMEONE ELSE FOR A DAY, WHO WOULD IT BE: Paul Skenes

CAREER AMBITIONS: I want to have a great college career and hope to make it to the MLB on day. It has been a dream for me my whole life.