MOORE HAD HELP FROM ABOVE AGAINST TABBIES
Late friend ‘carried me through’ career night, veteran Lions receiver recalls
Nick Moore believes the 220 yards in receiving he pulled in last Saturday in Hamilton was the most in his life, but it’s not why it was a game he’ll never forget.
The reason it is, in fact, had little to do with what actually happened on the field.
Moments before his wonderful, script-worthy game unfolded, the B.C. Lions receiver was stunned to learn one of his closest friends had died.
Pat Dawson, a defensive co-ordinator for NCAA Division 2 Concord University in West Virginia, was 32 years old. Details about his cause of death were not released.
“My friends were talking to each other, trying to arrange it so no one told me until after the game, but one of my friends slipped up. He didn’t know,” Moore said. “It was tough. (Dawson) was someone who I consider one of my best friends ... and now he’s gone.”
The pair began developing a close bond as football-playing freshmen at the University of Toledo in Ohio, where Moore redshirted in 2004.
“When I heard the news, I didn’t even want to play, to be honest,” Moore said. “But I sat there and prayed. And I thought about it. He would have wanted me to play for him.
“I just wanted to lay it all on the line for him and the team.”
Moore did more than that. So much more. Reuniting with QB Travis Lulay, he caught more passes in a game than he ever had before (11) and did it for more yards. It looked smooth and easy. It must have felt that way, too, because Moore thinks he actually left plays on the field.
“That was my only 200-yard game ever,” Moore said. “Ever.
“(But) there was a ball on the sideline where I misjudged my jump. I felt I definitely would have got to it had I saw that ball differently and there were other details I could have fine tuned.
“It didn’t feel like a 220 game.” The performance meant much more to him than the yards. This was special. Moore said he’ll always look back on Saturday, convinced Dawson had a guiding hand in what went down.
“I know he carried me through it, above, watching,” Moore said. “I’m a firm believer in that. It was an inspiration.
“He was a loving guy. He would brighten up any room with a smile. He could make anyone laugh. He’d give anyone the shirt off his back.
“He was that genuine guy type of person that you love to have in your life.”
In a statement from Concord University, the school said Dawson arrived there as a defensive line coach in 2011. There he coached nine all-conference linemen before he was promoted to defensive co-ordinator in 2015.
In 2014, Concord made it to the NCAA Division 2 semifinals for the first time.
For those who were unaware of Moore’s circumstances, Saturday’s game was all about the connection he has with Lulay, the quarterback who will start Friday.
There is something to that. The Lions’ offence has some nice options among its receiver group, so it’s unlikely Moore is going to have another 200-yard night, but it doesn’t mean his chemistry with Lulay isn’t real.
“I started my career here in 2010 and we’ve been basically working on our chemistry since then,” Moore said. “I left for a couple of years, but last year you could tell we didn’t miss a beat. “We’re just on the same page.” For Lulay, the backup tapped to play with Jonathan Jennings injured, Moore is something of a security blanket because of their history together. But there are other reasons he kept looking Moore’s way, including the receiver’s length, his ability to win in oneon-one situations and something else that’s kind of unexplainable.
“He just knows things, he just knows I’m going to be where I need to be when I’m supposed to be there,” Moore said. “I know he’s going to get me the ball when he’s supposed to.
“Us playing helped us.”