Staten His Case: Alex Staten’s School-Record 371 Yards Fuel Unbeaten Donovan’s Rout of Rumson
TOMS RIVER – Donovan Catholic senior Alex Staten raced for 38 yards on his first carry against Rumson-Fair Haven on Friday night, and he didn’t stop until he was in the school record book.
Staten erupted for a school single-game record 371 yards rushing on only 18 carries and scored three total touchdowns to fuel a 51-13 rout by the Griffins (6-0) over the Bulldogs (5-1) in a top-three showdown of unbeaten teams. He also had two catches for 24 yards and a score, giving him 395 yards of total offense.
“He’s a force to be reckoned with,” 6-foot-4, 335-pound sophomore tackle Xavier Fowlkes said. “Especially with our O-line blocking for him, he’s unstoppable. After the first few he broke, I knew it was going to be a big day.”
“Big thanks to the guys up front,” Staten said about his record performance. “I’ve got a 6-4 tackle, and all my offensive linemen are six foot. They set it up this week. I made the plays when I could, but they obliterated that D-line this week.”
Donovan Catholic senior running back Alex Staten exploded for a school-record 371 yards rushing in a win over Rumson-Fair Haven. (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
The Griffins, ranked No. 2 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12, rattled off 28 unanswered points against the No. 3 Bulldogs to end the game, with Staten zooming for a pair of touchdowns of more than 50 yards in the second half. Donovan Catholic outscored Rumson 34-7 in the second half amid the raindrops and rolled up 423 yards rushing and 550 total yards in the win.
“It’s an unbelievable performance by Alex,” Griffins head coach Dan Curcione said. “He’s a tremendously hard worker and a talented kid. He’s got it all. I’m really proud of him.”
Staten was nudging into rare air in Shore Conference history once he passed 350 yards with the highest total of any Shore running back this season. The single-game rushing record in the Shore is 465 by legendary Freehold quarterback Ashante Worthy in a state playoff game against Pennsauken in 2016. Worthy’s head coach in that game was Dave Ellis, who is now an assistant with Donovan Catholic.
“Alex was getting a little close to Ashante there,” Ellis joked after the game. “I almost had to tell them to take him out.”
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It was actually the Bulldogs that struck first on the opening possession of the game. Junior quarterback Brady Williams unloaded a 41-yard strike off his back foot to senior wide receiver Casey Moore for a 7-0 lead with 9:49 left in the first quarter.
Donovan Catholic responded by driving to Rumson’s one-yard line, spurred by runs of 38 and 27 yards on Staten’s first two carries of the game. However, a pair of penalties and a sack made the Griffins have to settle for a 38-yard field goal by senior kicker Sal Reynoso to cut the lead to 7-3.
The defense came up with a stop and then the Griffins marched 70 yards in nine plays to take a lead they would not relinquish. Donovan Catholic scored on a four-yard run in which senior quarterback Kahden Davis walked into the end zone untouched for a 17-7 advantage with 11:15 left in the half. The big play of the drive was a sensational, 26-yard run by Staten to the Rumson 7-yard line in which he remarkably kept his balance when it looked like he was down.
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“I think with our offense, once we get a feel with those 15-, 20-plus-yard gains, that we can get it rolling,” Staten said. “And as the season progresses, we’re opening up the playbook, the chemistry’s getting better. Team morale is getting better. I feel like in the system that we have right now, that everybody is at an all-time high right now.”
During the drive, Staten also had a big collision with Rumson senior linebacker Ryder Izzo, one of the Shore’s top two-way players(opens in new tab) and the engine of the Bulldogs’ running game. Izzo was injured on the play and did not return. Head coach Jeremy Schulte said after the game that the injury was not serious.
The Griffins made it 17-7 at halftime when Davis found Staten on a short pass and he raced 18 yards, leaping into the end zone with 1:07 left in the half.
Alex Staten leaps into the end zone to complete an 18-yard TD catch in the second quarter. (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
Staten then quickly removed any suspense when he took off down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter for a 23-7 lead.
Donovan Catholic was blowing Rumson off the ball behind Fowlkes, one of the top offensive line recruits in the state. Fowlkes picked up an offer from East Carolina right on the field after the game when he spoke with a Pirates assistant coach.
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“I just follow big 78,” Staten said. “It’s easy to hide behind him when he’s 6-4, man.”
“Their offensive line looks like Volkswagens with legs,” Schulte said. “And they’re good. That Fowlkes kid is phenomenal, and they’re well-coached. If you make mistakes, they’re going to make you pay for it.”
Rumson’s running game was nonexistent once Izzo exited the game, so the Bulldogs began throwing on almost every down. They cut the lead to 23-13 when Williams found senior wide receiver Cole Spoonire for a 20-yard touchdown with 8:22 left in the third quarter, but that was as close as it would get.
Donovan Catholic answered with a six-play, 75-yard drive that featured a 37-yard run by Staten and ended with Davis running eight yards for a touchdown and a 31-13 lead. Following a three-and-out by the Bulldogs, Davis unleashed a 53-yard bomb to wide-open senior wideout Nyron Snerling for a 37-13 lead with 3:47 left in the third quarter.
Following another defensive stop, Staten put the capper on a historic night when he accelerated for a 64-yard touchdown run to balloon the lead to 44-13 with 9:05 left in the game. Freshman running back Carmelo Foendoe added an eight-yard touchdown run for the final margin.
“I think it’s his power and his speed,” Fowlkes said about Staten. “Once he gets that edge, he’s gone.”
“The vision,” Schulte said about Staten’s top attribute. “He’s a one-cut-and-go guy. He doesn’t sit there and dance. He doesn’t try to make you miss. He just makes that one cut and he goes. They opened up seams against us. We made mistakes that he was able to exploit, but I don’t want to take anything away from the kid because he’s phenomenal.”
Donovan Catholic’s defense stopped a Rumson team that was averaging 32.8 points per game. (Photo by Patrick Olivero)
Donovan Catholic’s defense also stifled a Rumson team that entered averaging 32.8 points per game. The Griffins did a solid job of shutting down the Bulldogs’ quick passing game and completely bottled up the run game, holding Rumson to 58 yards rushing, 27 of which were by Izzo before he got hurt.
“Number 18 (Brady Williams) is a hell of a quarterback,” Curcione said. “He’s tough, he’s accurate, he’s got a strong arm. It was a hell of a challenge. We kind of gave up some big plays early on and had a couple guys running free, and that was worrisome, but I think we adjusted well.”
On the other side, Staten now has four 100-yard rushing games so far this season. He has run for 550 yards and three touchdowns in the last two weeks against a pair of teams that entered the game unbeaten. Staten now leads the Shore with 869 yards rushing this season after coming into the year a little under the radar after 569 yards rushing as a junior.
“I think he’s a very underrated back in the Shore,” Fowlkes said. “He’s one of the top running backs.”
“I just needed my opportunities, and I got them,” Staten said. “So big thanks to the coaches for believing in me and trusting in me.”
Rumson is going to have to regroup in a hurry because next week it faces No. 1 Red Bank Catholic in their annual rivalry game, which will essentially decide the Class A North title. Donovan Catholic will look to continue its best start since 2020 when it faces No. 9 Point Boro in a game in which it can clinch no worse than a tie for its second straight Class A South title.
Scott Stump is the football editor and a reporter for Shore Sports Insider. He first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999.
Email: scottstump25@gmail.com
