Staton leads Notre Dame-West Haven into CT Class M football final

SOUTHINGTON — His coach runs down his statistics line from Sunday’s CIAC Class M semifinal, a two-way column-filling set of numbers. Jacob Staton, Notre Dame-West Haven coach Joe DeCaprio said, “had 247 yards rushing, one reception for 75 yards, nine tackles, one sack and a (tackle for a loss)” in the 28-14 win over Law. Yeah, but what else did he do? “I was gonna ask him to drive the bus home,” the coach said. Staton, a senior running back/linebacker, has been one of those Green Knights who have figuratively driven the team to the Class M final, Saturday at 2 p.m. at Rentschler Field. Notre Dame (9-3) faces top-seeded Berlin (12-0) seeking the fourth title in school history. And it’s one of three SCC Tier I teams who’ll be playing Saturday; five of the seven Tier I teams reached the playoffs. That league named Staton its player of the year. “Hats off to that kid,” said North Haven coach Anthony Sagnella, whose team will play for the Class MM title. “He’s led their team every week. You read an article, his name’s in it. They’re playing for the same thing we’re playing for.” DeCaprio loves Staton the football player, but he practically gushes over Staton the person, a soft-spoken leader who relates well with teammates and classmates. “He's a wonderful kid,” DeCaprio said. “He's got a 3.6 GPA and I truly believe — I know there's kids with way better statistics; there's just some inflated statistics out there — he is the best player in the state of Connecticut. That's my feeling on it. “He can catch the ball. He's an amazing pass blocker. He's just tremendous. He can do anything. He's our backup punter. He can play quarterback if he had to. He can do anything on a football field.” Looking up to his brother Derrick Atkinson, a former Hamden standout, Staton, listed at 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, hadn’t heard of Notre Dame. But some friends went there, and he went, too, as a freshman. He’d said he thought he was going to be more a basketball player than football player, but he’d been playing football since he was little, too, and around eighth grade, scoring touchdowns got more and more fun. He’d always been a linebacker, too, until last year. “I didn't allow it. I needed him to play tailback,” DeCaprio said. “This year ... we just knew there was no way we could keep him off the field. “We saw him make play after play after play in practice and it's just like, OK, we're going to have to make a decision here.” Almost 1,400 rushing yards and a piece of almost 100 tackles later, the decision seems to have worked out. Jonathan Evans spells him at tailback when Staton needs a breather, but the Knights want Staton on the field on defense. “It's definitely tiring” going both ways, Staton said with a grin. “Especially in the, like, longer-stretch games, like Law. That was a closer game. I think that's the most tired I've ever been so far this season. Shelton, that was a tiring game. (Fairfield) Prep, any, like, close, long games. “I like it, though.” He’s picked off three passes — two in one game against Hand — forced a couple of fumbles and recovered three. Staton says he always hears his mother, Chalise Atkinson, cheering for him, and he wants to let her cheer for him in college, too. At the moment he’s thinking about a postgraduate year at Loomis Chaffee. DeCaprio said most colleges had seen him as a tailback, and he’s hoping they reevaluate Staton as a linebacker. He has made an impression on high school coaches. “He’s a complete high school football player,” Fairfield Prep coach Keith Hellstern said. “He’s a tremendous running back, good power, fast but a guy who’ll get the hardest yard for you, and in the open field, he’s very dangerous. “The other thing I’ve loved about him is watching him play defense. He’s physical, rangy. Whatever he was asked to do, he did well. He was our player of the year in the conference for a reason.” mfornabaio@ctpost.com; @fornabaioctp

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Notre Dame-West Haven's Jacob Staton leads team into Class M final