Mr. Magnificent Moves On

If you've watched the revitalization of football at Columbia High School over the last two seasons, chances are that you've spent a lot of time lifting your jaw off of the turf watching Denzel Nieves run.

It's nearly impossible to describe with any justice how masterful Columbia's star running back was this season and throughout his career with the ball in his hands. Only the eyeball test shows his true abilities, and that Nieves plus football equals magic.

The numbers tell part of the story.

During this past fall, in which the Cougars went 9-1 and won the Liberty Division, Nieves led the team in total yards, return yards, rushing yards and touchdowns. He averaged an astounding 8.42 yards per carry, racking up 1,229 yards on the ground, becoming Columbia's first 1,000 yard rusher in over eight seasons.

"We had a good season, a lot of underclassmen stepped up, which was good because we had a lot of seniors leave last year," Nieves said.

His season ended in the opening round of the state playoffs for the second straight season, this time at home against Bridgewater-Raritan.

"It was harsh, because I really believe that we should've beat them," Nieves. "They weren't that great of a football team, they couldn't stick with our speed and that's one of the things I regret from high school."

Since there are no official stats for CHS football dating from before the 07-08 season, it's impossible to tell exactly where Nieves ranks on Columbia's all-time list. But being that the Cougars have three playoff appearances since 1951 and Nieves was the key cog in two of them, it's safe to say he ranks near the top.

"He is one of the best I've ever seen," said CHS head coach Dave Curtin, who has been coaching football for over 30 years. "He has a jump cut, where he comes to a complete stop going in one direction, and then by step two he is going the other way going full speed."

When totaling his receiving yardage, interception return and special teams yardage, where he was a big play waiting to happen, Nieves scored 22 touchdowns and gained 2,119 total yards. Those aren't regular high school running back numbers, those are video game statistics.

To put his numbers in even further perspective, consider that the Cougars scored 290 total points this season, and Nieves's 132 scored was 46 percent of that. The next closest running back was Matt McGriff, who scored slightly over 15 percent of the team's points. His 2,119 total yards made up nearly 54 percent of the team's total yardage.

"My advantage has always been my speed," Nieves said. "At each level [of football], it's been my quickness to be at my top speed, my first two steps, my agility and my vision."

As a junior Nieves also led the team in rushing yards and touchdowns with 12. Over his two year career as Columbia's go-to running back, Nieves has scored 34 touchdowns, gained more than 3,000 yards and has scored 38.4 percent of his team's points.

It's impossible to imagine where Columbia would've been this season or last without Nieves in the backfield. He has posted 12 career 100 yard games, 10 games with two or more touchdowns and five games with three or more scores over the last two seasons.

After witnessing the Cougars put together losing campaign after losing campaign, Nieves was considering not attending CHS while in middle school.

"Coach Curtin is really the reason why I came to Columbia," Nieves said. "In my eighth grade year I was really looking for a different school because Columbia wasn't really that great at football at the time."

Columbia was in the middle of a 26-game losing streak, and Nieves had dreams of following in his father's footsteps and play Division I football. Playing for a struggling program is not exactly a way to get noticed by college scouts.

But Nieves relished the challenge and it's a good thing he did. The Cougars have turned things around over the last two seasons, going 17-3 in that stretch, making back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time ever and winning a division championship for the first time since 1982.

"I'd rather take on a challenge that no one would be willing to take on," Nieves said of his decision. "It feels good to make this organization feel better about football. The games are more packed now and nobody's asking if we're going to win. They say 'you guys better not lose' now."

As well as being an offensive workhorse, missing just one game over the last two seasons, Nieves contributed on defense (five interceptions this season) and as a valuable blocker in the backfield. Though he is a low-key and very humble student, Nieves spoke when he needed to, being one of the team's captains.

"When he did speak, they listened because he didn't speak a lot. His leadership was what he did on the field," Curtin said. "He helped us tremendously on defense because some guys got hurt."

Perhaps more impressive than Nieves's numbers is how he gets the numbers. Nieves stands at a mere 5 feet 7 inches and weighs 170 pounds, with a 4.5 40-yard dash speed. He rarely, if ever, goes down on first contact and has a variety of ways to shed defenders.

"There are times when he'll break like five tackles on one run, so you can't say wow," said Cougar co-captain and lead blocker for Nieves, Matt McGriff. "But it's nothing new. It's just what he does, and we all feed off of it."

There's the conventional way, lowering his shoulders and using his leg strength (375 pound squats) and powering through a tackle. There's his uncanny slippery nature, which renders arm tackles nearly useless. Then there's his favorite, and perhaps his signature, the juke move. Nieves can make the entire building think he's going right and then go left so quickly it makes the defense looks silly at times.

"It's really like in slow motion [for me] because I have great peripherals, so I get to see as much of the field as everybody else," Nieves said. "So when I see a hole, I just hit it and make a couple of moves, make a couple of guys miss and then I'm gone."

Despite all of his success on the field, Nieves said that he regrets Columbia's two playoff losses and some of the fumbling problems he has had over the last two seasons. If there is any knock against Nieves, it would be ball security. Over the last two seasons he has fumbled nine times and has lost six of those. Of course, when you factor in that he's touching the ball more than anyone, save the quarterback, the high fumble totals are a little more understandable.

"I was usually good at carrying the football, it's just that I started getting a little too fancy," Nieves said. "With my moves and stuff, I was pushing the ball away from my body."

Off the field Nieves was described as a bit of jokester, and a very calm person with a streak of sarcasm about him. Though Curtin added that Nieves would never cross the line and always remained respectful.

While much of his talent is natural, much of his success comes from hours of work during the off-season, where he trains all year for football. His training schedule included waking up a 5 a.m. every day for speed drills at Underhill with coach Luther Bowen, then running up Flood Hill and then sometimes hitting the weight room afterwards.

"During the off-season, he lives in the weight room," McGriff said. "We're talking like two hours a day every day."

The big question now for Nieves is where he goes now. His lack of overwhelming size coupled with not playing in a very strong league in the SEC Liberty will go as marks against him in the recruiting game. Nieves said that he has a desire to play DI football, and that he is confident that he can be successful at that level.

"I think in the right situation in the right place, I think he could be DI," Curtin said of Nieves.

"That has always been my dream because my father [Charles Nieves] played college football and that has always been my dream," Nieves said. "I've just been dreaming about playing college football. Just to be on TV, knowing that people here are watching me and that somebody from this town is doing good."

Nieves added that he does not have much interest in playing D III football, and he wants to play in the Big East, so he can stay close to home.

Curtin said that he is at work putting highlight tapes together for coaches to see. It seems that Nieves has done his part in providing the highlights and the memories for Cougar fans, perhaps a college coach will let Nieves bring his talents on the road.

"I know it sounds crazy, but I think he can get a whole lot better," Curtin said. "Even if he never gets a step faster, just with the strength and conditioning and his body just growing naturally, the sky is the limit."