CRANSTON – Curtis Briggs was just waiting for an opportunity.
As a sophomore, a knee injury ended his season before he had a chance to really see one. In his junior year, a teammate’s transformation into a star left Briggs on the bench wondering if that chance to prove himself would ever come.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe could have quit. He didn’t. He continued to work hard, in case that opportunity arrived. In the biggest game of his life, it finally did – and Briggs was ready.
With Classical trailing at halftime of its Division III Super Bowl against Mt. Hope, Briggs got the chance he was waiting for. The Purple coaches saw what Briggs did in practice and trusted him to do the same in the game’s biggest moments and the senior showed why. He scored two touchdowns that were instrumental in the 40-28 comeback victory and showed why
“You don’t even know how much I fought, how much this team fought,” Briggs said. “We fought all season. This means the world.”
Curtis Briggs (left) made the most of his opportunity in the Division III Super Bowl and his two touchdowns - one celebrated here with teammates Robert Tannenbaum and Jerrae Brown - were huge in Classical's 40-28 win over Mt. Hope.Briggs showed promise early in his career at Classical, but tore his ACL during his sophomore season. The recovery process was long and arduous, but Briggs looked to be a major park in the Purple run game in 2024.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThen Jordan Duke happened. With Duke dominating Division III, Curtis was stuck as the No. 2 back on the roster. Chances were limited and there were times the Classical coaching staff worried Briggs’ focus was waning.
This summer Briggs was in line to be the starting running back, but suffered a minor scare with a tweak to the previously injured knee. Tahmeed Moshood, a converted soccer player, came in and won the starting job, leaving Briggs as a backup his senior year.
Situations like that have ended plenty of high school football careers and if Briggs left the team, plenty would have understood the frustration behind the decision. Briggs decided to stick with it – and became a leader in the process.
At practice, he was the first player out on the field and often, the last to leave. He worked tirelessly on the practice squad, going wherever head coach Kris McCall or any of the staff asked him to play. Briggs lined up at defensive end, running back, defensive back, offensive line, defensive line, doing whatever possible in practice to help make his teammates better.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe effort and multiple reps weren’t lost on the coaching staff. They worked him into games when they could, but with Moshood having a spectacular season, he remained on the second string.
Classical wanted to use Briggs more in the quarterfinals against Chariho, but noticed the senior – who was spectacular in practice – would get nervous or over-excited and forget things in the game that were second nature during practices.
There were reservations about Briggs getting time against Chariho. When Moshood suffered a minor injury, the coaches told Briggs he needed to be ready because he was going to play in the Super Bowl.
There was just one problem.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Curtis was great all week in practice, but he kept jumping [and false-starting],” McCall said. “The more we got closer to the game, we started playing music in practice to simulate the noise and not hearing me make the calls.
“Curtis kept jumping and committing false starts.”
Briggs was suited up and ready to go for the Super Bowl, but Moshood got the start, leaving Briggs on the sideline waiting for his chance. Moshood was a big part of the offense early, but committed a late fumble and re-aggrevated the previous injury. Needing Moshood on defense, the Classical coaching staff decided the second half was time to go to Briggs.
The Purple wasted little time in getting him acclimated to the game. The first play from scrimmage was a handoff to Briggs, who went 15 yards to get the drive going. The pass game took Classical down the field and, on a first-and-goal from the 6, Briggs’ number got called again. He powered between the tackles and scored, cutting what was once a 28-6 deficit to 28-21.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I knew they were going to need me eventually,” Briggs said. “When one man goes down, the next man goes up. That’s what coach tells us, so I was prepared.”
Briggs continued to be an important part of the offense and anchored the run game. He started a scoring drive late in the third quarter with an eight yard run, then finished it from the on a second-and-goal from the three for his second touchdown of the game that cut the deficit to 28-27.
“We kept telling him when it comes to be your time be ready and he was ready,” Classical quarterback Parker Howley said. “That was awesome. He’s an amazing kid and it was great to see him put two of them in the end zone.”
After Bam Adebayo scored the go-ahead touchdown, Classical’s defense came up with a stop and needed to run off as much time as possible. That meant running the ball. When Briggs took the handoff, he covered the ball with both arms and ran straight. It would have taken the jaws of life to rip it from his arms.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdebayo put the game away with a touchdown and when the clock finally struck zero, Briggs and his teammates celebrated. Briggs’ line wasn’t absurd enough to win MVP honors – 10 carries, 37 yards, two touchdowns – but there was little doubt in how important he was to his team’s success.
“It’s the fact that the kids are behind each other in their darkest moments. They weren’t going to let Curtis fail,” McCall said. “When we took a timeout and talked about running the ball at the goal line, they were like ‘we’re getting him in the end zone.’ It wasn’t ‘we’re scoring,’ it was ‘we’re getting him in the end zone.’
“It brings tears to my eyes and shivers up my arms because that was the best Super Bowl and the kids were the ones who did it.”
“This is all I was asking for,” Briggs said. “After the knee injury, I knew my shot would come and here it is. I ended the season with a bang and I’m glad I could do it for my team and glad I could do it for my school.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Curtis Briggs was an important part of Classical comeback against Mt. Hope
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