Moses Brown looked different Friday than it had in a while. It wasn't hard to see why.

PROVIDENCE — Moses Brown is getting healthy at the right time and look ready to turn the Division III playoffs upside down.

The Quakers weren’t ready to talk postseason after their 21-0 win over West Warwick on Friday night. They might be defending D-III champs, but they’ll only earn the final spot in the playoffs with a win over Pilgrim next week.

“Like coach said we have to take it one game at a time and that’s what we’ve got to do,” Moses Brown linebacker Jake Rose said. “One game at a time and just take it step by step.”

So how did Moses Brown go from losing to Johnston and Ponaganset to blowing out the likely No. 1 seed from Division III-B?

Having Myles Craddock back certainly helped.

The senior running back looked very much like his All-State self, determined to send a message with his performance against the Wizards on Friday night. He was stopped for no gain on his first carry of the night and spent the rest of the evening being unstoppable.

On the Quakers’ three touchdown drives, Craddock handled most of the heavy lifting. He had all 57 yards on their scoring drive in the second quarter, getting into the end zone from 12 yards out to take a 9-0 lead into halftime. In the third quarter, West Warwick overplayed Craddock on the MB zone read, allowing quarterback Henry Ballou to eat before Ballou scored on a 6-yard run.

Moses Brown’s final scoring drive put an exclamation point on the win. Craddock had 55 yards rushing on the 10-play affair before scoring from the 2.

He flipped the ball to the official, then looked over at classmates who were cheering from the back of the end zone and thanked them for their support by blowing them a kiss.

“Having him back is great,” Rose said. “He’s really a key player of ours and having him back is really good.”

“It’s a team win. It’s not about me and it’s not about anyone else,” said Craddock when asked if his performance would send a message to the rest of D-III. “We know how good we are and people are going to talk. We have respect for each team we play, every week, and we just look forward to getting out there every day.”

Craddock wasn’t the only Quaker getting back on the field healthy. Starting quarterback Luke Porcaro returned to the field and while he was limited – he played the first drive, completing 2 of his 5 pass attempts – it was a good sign that he’ll be back out there next week for the next game.

The defense was also closer to full strength and it showed. Moses Brown limited the West Warwick offense to 32 total yards, only 13 on the ground, and gave up its lone first down in the third quarter when Josh Pedus converted a third-and-1 with a four-yard run.

“We just have to come out and punch them in the mouth in the first quarter,” said Rose of the Quakers’ mindset going up against the Wizards. “We have to be mentally strong and have everybody at the same snap, the same mentality.

“That’s just what it takes. We come together and that’s what it takes to have a win.”

Moses Brown was healthy in September. It started the season 3-0, and expects to be close to that level next week. In the Quakers’ two losses against Johnston and Ponaganset, they were absent Craddock, Porcaro and a few other key players that helped them get off to their terrific start.

The losses hurt, but the lessons learned from them could prove invaluable.

“We just have to stay mentally strong throughout everything. Standings only mean so much,” Rose said. “We just have to push forward no matter what happens. We have to come together as a team more and create that brother bond and just come out and be the best we can with the people we have.”

“Those two losses when I was out, it’s hard to watch those but I know my team is a tough team,” Craddock said. “I knew we were going to fight back whether I was coming back or not. I just want to be a part of that.

“That’s why you come and play. … This was a big win to be a part of but in general I just think I want to be out here with my guys when they win as well.”

After losing Friday, West Warwick was hardly pleased with its performance. The Wizards rode in off the high of an impressive win over then-undefeated Johnston, but everything that went right in that game went wrong on Friday night.

“The energy wasn’t there at practice,” West Warwick star James Branch said. “We didn’t take practice as serious. Another thing is fear. We can’t show fear – we have to show no mercy and go in all gas, no brakes.”

West Warwick doesn’t have to worry about the postseason — it has earned its way in. There’s still a matter of the No. 1 seed from III-B, which the Wizards can secure with a win Thursday night when they travel to play winless Mt. Hope.

“We can’t let up no matter what anything looks like,” Branch said. “We have to come out and play our brand of football and make them play us.”

Moses Brown’s goal will be to do the same.

Pilgrim is going to be hungry coming off its loss to Johnston on Thursday night and the student section will be rabid as the Patriots try to make the postseason for the first time since they won the D-III Super Bowl in 2019.

The Quakers know Pilgrim is going to fight. Moses Brown is looking to do the same. It’s a playoff game the Quakers hope lead to more.

“It does create a little nerves, but what we accomplished today shows what our team can do if we’re healthy,” Rose said. “We just have to come out like we did before and come out with a win on top.”

“Each week is special. It’s high school football – it doesn’t get better than that,” Craddock said. “We’re just going to go into every week excited to play, excited to be out there and try and get out there healthy.”

MOSES BROWN 21, WEST WARWICK 0

First quarter

MB – Safety, West Warwick quarterback tackled in end zone, 0:00

Second quarter

MB – Myles Craddock 12 run (Parker Kroll kick), 1:27

Fourth quarter

MB – Henry Ballout 6 run (pass fails), 11:57

MB – Craddock 2 run (run fails), 4:12

TEAM STATISTICS

RUSHING – West Warwick 18-13, Moses Brown 45-189. PASSING – West Warwick 4-5-19, Moses Brown 2-8-15. TOTAL OFFENSE – West Warwick 32, Moses Brown 204. FIRST DOWNS – West Warwick 1, Moses Brown 18. FUMBLES-LOST – West Warwick 1-1, Moses Brown 5-0. TOTAL TURNOVERS – West Warwick 1, Moses Brown 0. PENALTIES – West Warwick 4-35, Moses Brown 2-20. PUNTS-YARDS – West Warwick 5-150, Moses Brown 4-138. TIME OF POSSESSION – West Warwick 14:45, Moses Brown 33:15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING: West Warwick – James Branch 10-32; Josh Pedus 4-4; Nathan Corona 4-(-23). Moses Brown – Myles Craddock 28-191, 2 TDs; Nate King 4-10; Henry Ballou 12-4; Luke Porcaro 1-(-16).

PASSING: West Warwick – Corona 3-4-11; Keagan Gormely 1-1-8. Moses Brown – Porcaro 2-5-15; Ballou 0-2-0; Craddock 0-1-0.

RECEIVING: West Warwick – Tyler Robinson-Scholl 1-8; Branch 2-6, fumble; Karl Swanson 1-5. Moses Brown – Ballou 2-15.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Moses Brown gets back to business as Craddock goes off vs. West Warwick