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While football is often labeled the “ultimate team sport,” it is safe to say that no individual had a greater impact on The College of Wooster’s modern-day gridiron success than Tony Sutton.
From 2002-04, the three-time All-American running back carried the Fighting Scots to places they had not been before or since – a 25-5 record (in games in which he played), a consistent spot in the national rankings, including as high as No. 5, and eventually into the Round of 16 in the NCAA Div. III Football Championships field – all while setting dozens of individual national, conference, and school records.
Growing up in inner city Akron, Sutton had barely heard of the College when he was looking for a school to transfer to after a disappointing freshman season at NCAA Div. II University of Findlay. Enter Kenny Fry, a then-freshman defensive lineman for the Scots and good high school friend (Archbishop Hoban). They stayed in touch, and after Fry gave Wooster a glowing recommendation, Sutton looked into it, and the rest is history.
In just his second game with the Black & Gold, Sutton showcased a hint of greatness as he ran for 171 yards on just 11 attempts, or a 15.5 average, against Bethany College. More comfortable with his role and at Wooster in general, Sutton ripped off 261 rushing yards – the first of 12 career 200-yard games – the next week and a North Coast Athletic Conference-record 313 yards and five touchdowns the following week in the NCAC opener.
He piled up a league-leading 1,418 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns for the season and vaulted the Scots into the national rankings, but eventually was slowed by injury at No. 10 Wabash College. Wooster also dropped a heartbreaker to No. 11 Wittenberg University, 14-9, with the NCAC championship on the line in the finale. Still, it was a great start to his career with the Scots, earning honorable mention All-America and NCAC Newcomer of the Year among other awards.
The best was yet to come. As a junior, Sutton took NCAA Div. III football by storm, capturing the triple crown for running backs as he led not only Div. III but all NCAA divisions in rushing (217.2 ypg), scoring (20.7 ppg; 31 touchdowns), and all-purpose yards (244.8 ypg). His best game came at Case Western Reserve University when he went off for a conference- and school-record 338 rushing yards and six touchdowns, all in just three quarters of play, and he ultimately was named the North Region and NCAC Offensive Player of the Year as well as a first-team All-American by four different organizations. As a team, though, Wooster suffered a couple of upsets and closed the season on the short end of another heartbreaker to Wittenberg, 35-31.
Supremely motivated for their senior season, Sutton and his teammates met every challenge through the regular season, highlighted by an epic battle with Wittenberg that saw the Scots win 64-58 in overtime when he dove into the end zone on the final play. Sutton said he still gets “flashbacks” from the elation he felt while being on the bottom of that pile.
Wooster finished off its first 10-0 regular season the next week and was ranked No. 6 nationally, heading into the playoffs – a “first” for the program. Sutton rang up 209 yards and a Div. III postseason-record five touchdowns in a victory over Aurora University, then he accounted for 159 of the team’s 211 yards of total offense as the magical run came to an end at the hands of Carthage College.
Sutton repeated as the national leader in rushing (186.7 ypg), scoring (16.5 ppg), and all-purpose yards (219.5 ypg) as a senior, and was again selected as a consensus first-team All-American and the North Region and NCAC Offensive Player of the Year. Plus, he was a finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, Div. III’s Outstanding Football Player-of-the-Year award.
Among his long list of career records that still stand today, Sutton owns Div. III national marks for rushing yards per game (187.1), rushing touchdowns per game (2.5), total touchdowns per game (2.7), and scoring (16.0 ppg), and NCAC and Wooster marks for total rushing yards (5,613), rushing touchdowns (76), total touchdowns (80), scoring (480), and all-purpose yards (6,415).
Sutton, who also won the 100 meters (11.10) at the 2003 NCAC Championships during his one track season at Wooster, went on to play in two all-star games – the Aztec Bowl and the Hula Bowl – and was invited to Cleveland Browns’ rookie mini-camp.
Since graduating from Wooster, where he majored in communication studies, Sutton has held various jobs, recently as an extractor for an oil and gas company.