SPRINGVILLE — Any loss the Springville High football team has ever experienced on the field cannot compare to the loss it's currently dealing with off the field.
Just after 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Springville High administrators, the Red Devils' coaches, players and parents learned that senior linebacker Brandon Curtis had died from injuries he suffered a day earlier in a Jeep rollover in the high school parking lot.
"This is a tragedy and a loss for Springville High and the community of Springville," principal John DeGraffenried said. "We've got a group of family, students and friends, who are grieving and trying to work through this loss of a very outstanding young man."
Curtis, 18, had been on life support since the accident, which also injured three of his fellow teammates. Two were treated and released while one remains hospitalized in good condition.
The four had just finished conditioning and drills Tuesday morning on the school's northwest practice field and were driving east across the parking lot in the open-top Jeep when the 17-year-old driver began doing donuts, according to police.
The Jeep rolled, ejecting all four teenagers. Curtis, in the front passenger seat, and the other hospitalized juvenile were partially pinned under the vehicle until they were freed by three other teammates who witnessed the accident. Curtis suffered severe head trauma.
The team and more than 100 schoolmates gathered Tuesday at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center for a candlelight vigil. The team met again Wednesday morning at the football field to console each other and pray. Later in the day, they gathered again in the high school's student court — where they hugged and cried together for several hours after head coach Scott Mitchell shared the tragic news with them.
"Brandon Curtis has been a blessing in my life the past three years, and he's been a great example to me and our players. ... I'd want my son to grow up and be like Brandon Curtis," an emotional Mitchell said after meeting with his team Wednesday afternoon. "He always cared about those less fortunate and he was always a very giving person. ... My life has been better because I got to know him and have been able to call him a friend."
Curtis' classmates also held a large sleepover Wednesday night on the school's football field, where they shared support one more time. The team planned to visit the other injured classmate at the hospital this morning.
"Our players care a great deal about each other, and that's what will happen here. People will rally together. We'll cry a lot, we'll hug a lot and we'll laugh a lot. We'll talk through this, and people will open their arms and do whatever it takes to make this a positive experience," Mitchell said.
Nebo School District had counselors and psychologists at the school Wednesday to provide any help the students might need.
"They'll be here providing assistance as long as they need to be here," DeGraffenried said.
Curtis is the oldest of seven children of Jesse and Dianne Curtis. He was also a star wrestler for the Red Devils.
"Brandon was a young man who lived life to the fullest," his parents said in a statement released by the hospital. "He always gave 100 percent in everything and never did anything halfway."
Mitchell is unsure when the team will resume practicing, or exactly how the Red Devils' community will move forward from the tragedy.
"It's really kind of one breath at a time, one hug at a time, and a lot of crying and talking. ... We just get up off the floor and just keep marching ahead," he said. "Brandon would want us to be strong and pull for each other and help each other out."
The Red Devils were scheduled to begin two-a-days in two weeks. The team's first game is Aug. 20 at Dixie.
"Certainly Brandon will be in our memories then, as he will be for the rest of our lives," Mitchell said.
Special concern needs to be given, Mitchell said, to the other three boys involved in the accident.
"This was an accident," he said.
Curtis' parents have also requested support for the other three teens, saying their son was "closer than brothers" with them. One of the boys' father was at the school Tuesday afternoon and said the three friends are taking Curtis' death hard.
"They have a closeness that you just don't see much these days in young men. It's a very special bond," he said.
Funeral services will likely be held early next week, a family member said. Because Curtis was an organ donor, his wishes are being honored.
"He is as giving in death as he was in life," his mother said.
A fund to help the family with medical and funeral expenses has been set up at Central Bank and Trust. The family, along with the Red Cross, are also holding a blood drive at Springville High School next Monday in Curtis' honor.
e-mail: jimr@desnews.com