Ohio Football

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Rising Star: Colt Briggs

By Dan Clasgens | Managing Editor

Wilmington's Colt Briggs enters his senior season with 8.5 career sacks.

The newly formed Southwestern Ohio Conference is going to feature some exciting football right out of the gate, highlighted by some hard-hitting defense and physical style of play.

That will suit our latest Rising Star, Wilmington defensive end Colt Briggs, extremely well.

The 6-foot-1, 255-pound senior is not our typical Rising Star candidate as he’s already a two-time All-Conference and Second-Team All-Southwest District honoree. However, we expect the best is yet to come.

Briggs enters the 2012 season with 8.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries and two interceptions for his career. He has high aspirations of improving those numbers in the year ahead.

“The part of my game that I am most focused on improving is my explosion and speed coming off the ball,” Briggs claimed. “It's key that I improve this to become the dominate pass rusher I want to be.”

Entering his final year of varsity football, Briggs expects to have more placed on his shoulders than in the past.

“This year my role will be different because I am a senior and will be more of the leader of the team,” Briggs said. “I will be ready to go and lead by example all year long.”

The Hurricane finished 7-3 a year ago and in fourth place in the FAVC Cardinal, just missing earning a post-season berth.

The schedule ahead will be tough, but Briggs and his teammates gained some valuable lessons in last season’s shortcomings.

“I learned most in 2011 that you have to be fully committed to becoming a champion,” he added. “We came up one game short of going to the playoffs and this year we will not come up short again.”

Briggs’ effort on the field has not gone unnoticed by college recruiters and he’s hopeful to continue his career after this season.

“Recruiting is coming along very well so far,” Briggs said. “There are various camps I am planning on attending such as Akron, Kent State, Bowling Green, Ball State, Harvard and Yale.”

He knows much work lies ahead, but for his part Briggs has been up for the challenge. The senior-to-be credits his coaches for helping in his development.

“Coach Vida and his staff have been very influential to me becoming a successful player and a strong man,” Briggs stated. “A specific person who has been a role model to me is Coach Zach Williams. He has helped throughout my whole high school career. I will never forget him.”

FINAL TAKE: It will be sometime before anyone close to the Wilmington program forgets Colt Briggs. He has exemplified everything that Coach Vida has tried to instill in the eight years he’s ran the Hurricane program. Briggs already possesses a great skill set and the desire it will take to be successful at the next level and there’s no doubt some college coach will give him a chance to do just that. Expect a monster senior campaign ahead and more post-season accolades for Briggs in 2012.

Dan Clasgens is a co-founder of TSF and serves as the President/Director of Media & Content for our parent company, GetSports Enterprises LLC. In addition to nearly a decade of experience in covering local high school football, Dan is a widely recognized as a fantasy football guru. He is both a local and national radio personality, including hosting a weekly show on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. If you are interested in covering your team, please CONTACT US.