Staples WR duo respect purpose, history on Veterans Day
WESTPORT — Tyler Clark talked about purpose. James Hillhouse talked about history.
Together, the Staples seniors have caught more footballs for more yards this year than anyone in Connecticut high school football.
Yet on this Veterans Day we are here to talk about life’s purpose and family history.
Clark has committed to attend and play lacrosse at the U.S. Military Academy.
James Hillhouse is a descendent of, yes, that James Hillhouse who fought in the Revolutionary War and is one of our original veterans.
“My great grandpa served in World War II, but honestly nothing recent in our family with the military,” Clark said. “I want a life where I can look back and know I made a better impact on the world than I would if I hadn’t pursued the Army. I want to leave behind a great legacy like all those who have served and left that legacy.”
College lacrosse coaches can begin contacting prospective recruits on Sept. 1 of the athlete’s junior year in high school.
“It’s funny,” Clark said. “My dad had asked me the summer before if I had any interest in the service academies. I said, ‘No way. Not interested at all.’
“My friend Henry Beck is at West Point in his sophomore year. The legacy he left behind (as a three-sport athlete at Staples and now with the Army sprint football team) got me thinking, wow, it is something I want to look into more. We talked a lot. I still talk to him all the time.”
Clark attended a prospect camp. He played well. The Army coaches were interested. He went on a visit to West Point.
“Everything about it, everything I learned while I was there, I really liked,” he said. “It’s not even one thing I can say I liked more than the other schools I visited. It’s that I had this feeling in me this is my purpose. This is something I need to do.
“For me sacrificing for other people honestly is sometimes the happiest I ever am. Even small stuff, you feel great after.”
When Clark visited West Point, mom went.
“My mom being a protective mom was like, ‘If you’re going to do this. I need to know everything about it,’ ” Clark said. “My dad, he is really proud of me. He really wanted me to do it. He has friends who have gone
to West Point and he sees where they are now and the type of people they are. They both are really supportive.”
Clark will attend West Point Prep next year.
“Part of it is academics, they really wanted me to go to get prepared for the rigors of the school,” he said. “I think it will help me athletically too. I’m on the younger side. A full year of lifting, working out, playing, the coaches think it will benefit me a lot. I agree.”
Clark won a state championship with the Staples lacrosse team last spring. The rugby team also won a state title. Football coach Adam Behrends said he has seen the personal growth in confidence and focus with those players.
“It involves seeing the end goal,” Clark said. “You have to question every day, ‘Am I really not going to go as hard as I can when I know what the end goal looks like and how great that feeling is?’ Championship pedigree is something that people talk a lot about, but your standard has to be incredibly high. Every little detail has to be done the right way.”
Hillhouse calls Clark a great captain.
“Every day,” Hillhouse said, “he’s out here working hard, leading, making sure everyone is on the right path.”
“Everything Tyler does,” Behrends said, “he does the right way.”
Clark has the same attacking style in both sports. In lacrosse, he dishes out more assists than goals. In football, he is on the receiving end. Through eight games, Clark has a stateleading 68 catches and 1,082 receiving yards, according to MaxPreps. He is shifty. Hillhouse said Clarke is nearly impossible to tackle.
“Last year, Nick Armentano
broke our school record for receiving yards in a season,” Clark said. “I remember telling him once, ‘Nick, I’m going for those records.’ Joking, not believing I could get close to it.’ ” He surpassed it. Clark, who started lacrosse in kindergarten, began playing football in the fifth grade. He has Ridgefield Friday, Greenwich on Thanksgiving and whatever the playoffs bring. That’s it for his football career. Lacrosse and the Army will become his life for several years.
“Staples football means so much to me,” Clark said. “I was at the state semifinal game in 2009 against Xavier at Wilton. Growing up, the program was always something I wanted to be a part of. I only have five games max left. I’m trying to enjoy every moment.”
And if he makes a huge TD catch against Greenwich or in the playoffs, who knows how he will enjoy that moment? His overtime goal to lift Staples to the state lacrosse finals last spring ended with a memorable celebratory flight.
“I saw a video of Ryder Garnsey when he was at Notre Dame,” Clark said. “He did a dead fish kind of jump. He jumped and went all limp. I tried it, but I couldn’t make myself go limp, so I did like a spread eagle. Honestly, there wasn’t much going through my head there. You get so much Adrenalin you do crazy things.”
Hillhouse has 37 catches and 678 receiving yards of his own — tied for fifth in the state. He wants to play football in college.
“You see the catches James makes,” Clark said. “He is incredible. I’m glad he is being recognized now for what a great blocker he is. It shows how selfless he is. I probably have 200-300 yards just from his blocking.”
Yes, his dad John named him after the original James. No, as a Staples football and baseball player he has never played his namesake high school in New Haven.
“That would be cool,” he said.
After graduating from Yale, James Hillhouse served as captain of the
Second Company of the Governor’s Foot Guard during the successful British invasion of New Haven on July 5, 1779. Hillhouse commanded troops alongside Aaron Burr.
Hillhouse went on to become a U.S. Representative and U.S Senator. As president pro tempore he administered the oath of office to vice president Burr. He was treasurer of Yale. With a tree ordinance, he is the man most responsible for New Haven becoming known as The Elm City. He established the Grove Street cemetery where Noah Webster, Eli Whitney and Hillhouse are buried. Hillhouse’s family later donated land in his honor to Yale to establish an astronomical observatory.
“My dad and I have definitely looked at it the past couple years,” James said. “I knew I had a lot of family history going back in Connecticut. I didn’t know or understand the depth of it. It is really interesting.”