1975
Undefeated State Champions
Coach Paul Lane's Wreckers go 11–0 and win the state championship. The home field now bears his name.
Scroll down — the timeline moves with you, decade by decade.Keep scrolling — the timeline moves with you.
From the Minutemen to five state titles.
Staples teams were the "Minutemen" until a newspaper headline — "Staples High Wrecks Norwalk's Homecoming!" — ran after the Wreckers upset an undefeated, nationally-ranked Norwalk squad that had picked Staples as an easy homecoming win. The name stuck.
Coach Paul Lane's Wreckers go 11–0 and win the state championship. Lane coached roughly three decades in Westport and sent seven Staples quarterbacks to Division I. The home field now carries his name.
Staples graduate Tom Wall designs the mascot — a hard-hatted construction-worker "Wrecker" — the caricature the program still wears today.
Marce "Coach P" Petroccio (210 career wins across 25 seasons) leads Staples to three state titles — 2002 in Class MM, then 2004 and 2005 in Class L.
Adam Behrends' Wreckers finish 12–1, ranked #1 in the GameTimeCT poll, and beat West Haven 21–20 for the CIAC Class LL state championship — the program's first title since 2005.
Matty Jacowleff takes over as head coach in 2025, opening the next era of navy-and-white football in Westport.
The Joe Gardi Memorial Scholarship honors one offensive and one defensive graduating senior each year. Named for the longtime Jets and Hofstra coach who was a friend of the program, it lives on its own page with the full story and application.
Joe Gardi Scholarship →For years, students and faculty believed Staples had no official alma mater — until it was rediscovered in 2003, found printed in the 1937 yearbook.