Game film is a godsend for football coaches, but it doesn’t do every player justice.

When Ethan Sutton showed up on a screen, his 5-foot-8, 168-pound frame — likely leaner, then — might have scared away some scouts who thought he was too small, even for the rigors of NCAA Division III.

Then there’s the bowling trophy conundrum: He might look sharp, but where do you put him? The most creative thinker might have trouble deciding if Sutton is best suited as a possession receiver, an all-purpose running back, an option quarterback, a return specialist or some combination of the four.

Fortunately games aren’t played on film, or disc, or paper, and few college football players in the northeast found and embraced their role the way Sutton did in 2010.

Sutton was rewarded for that persistence and versatility when St. Lawrence University of Canton, N.Y., recently named him one of four senior captains for the upcoming season.

“It’s a great privilege and a great honor,” Sutton said. “It means a lot because I feel like I’m not the most vocal guy. I kind of lead by example and by my performance on the field, so it feels like I got my due.”

Sutton, a 2008 graduate of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, cracked the Saints’ starting lineup as a junior and blossomed under the watchful eye of first-year coach Mark Raymond.

An every-down, non-traditional, big-play threat, Sutton led the team with six touchdowns — four receiving, one rushing and one passing. The rushing touchdown was an 80-yard jaunt on a fake punt.

He led the Liberty League in yards per play and ranked among the top five in all-purpose yards and receiving yards per game. Three of Sutton’s punts exceeded 50 yards.

Sutton also reaped two MVP awards: His team’s offensive player of the year honor, and recognition as the outstanding player in St. Lawrence’s annual Hoffman Cup game against Merchant Marine.

St. Lawrence (5-6) won its first-ever Liberty League championship and qualified for the Division III playoffs for the first time since 1982. There, the Saints lost to Mount Union, a team the reached the championship game for the 13th time in 15 seasons.

“The new coach brought a new sense of competitiveness,” Sutton said. “I had a chance to prove myself all over again. I still feel like I could have done a lot more. I don’t feel like I’ve really had my breakout year yet.”

Like many players, Sutton sees motivation in being an unknown quantity, or when coaches — his own, or the opposition’s — overlook him.

Hearing no promises or guarantees and seeing a clean slate was one reason he chose St. Lawrence over Bowdoin and Tufts.

Sutton overcame a broken finger suffered while playing American Legion baseball and was one of only three freshmen to win a place on the depth chart and travel regularly to road games.

He expected sophomore season to be his showcase, only to wind up waiting his turn.

“The coaches that were here went with seniority. The guy who started ahead of me, I loved him to death, but I should have been out there,” Sutton said. “The only game I started I scored two touchdowns. Then it was right back to the bench and I didn’t really get to play as much of a part as I would have liked.”

Sutton still caught four touchdowns that year, tops on the team.

With Raymond’s arrival, St. Lawrence crafted new and exciting ways to get Sutton the ball in space.

He became the full-time punter. Sutton took full advantage of what he calls a “rugby-style” formation.

Standing behind a split line with multiple flankers and a full-house backfield in front of him, Sutton takes the snap, shuffles a few steps left or right and has the option of either kicking or flirting with the first-down marker.

“I think I converted five out of eight times,” he said.

As the point man in the now-ubiquitous wildcat formation, Sutton also threw the first touchdown pass of his football life, a nine-yard strike.

Off the field, Sutton has coached junior high football and youth basketball while studying economics and exercise science. This summer, he’s in Boston on a work internship.

It’s an impressive resume for a kid who played soccer through middle school, then played slot receiver and kicked for a struggling high school program.

“I liked the fact that (St. Lawrence) didn’t really know what type of player I was,” Sutton said.

They do now. And one run, catch, throw or trick play at a time, everyone else is learning, too.

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