Moore masterful for East Hamilton
Hunter Moore set a school record Friday with an amazing passing performance, and the fact that he did it for East Hamilton only added to the amazement.
At East Hamilton, offense is most often predicated on the abilities of the offensive line where Ted Gatewood, the head coach and a former offensive lineman at Red Bank and Memphis, believes in run first, run often and throw only when you have to.
“My wife said the same thing,” Gatewood said when asked about East Hamilton stomping out of its comfort zone. “She said, ‘ Well, we decided to open it up a little bit, huh?’ I think, yeah, people will step back and take [another] look.”
On Friday night Gatewood’s Hyde got the best of his Jekyll and quarterback Moore took full advantage, completing 12 of 19 passes for 440 yards and five touchdowns. The senior also added a rushing touchdown in the Hurricanes’ 56-35 win over Walker Valley and earned Times Free Press Player of the Week honors.
“We try to see what gives our kids the best opportunity for success,” Gatewood said. “If given certain things, hopefully we can exploit it. We ran the ball, doing normal stuff, and we get in there and started probing and obviously felt good about what the kids were doing.”
The effort was second- best in the Chattanooga area behind Cleveland’s Austin Herink and a 478-yard showing. It was a record-setting performance for East Hamilton and Moore, who has committed to Central Arkansas.
“A record? For our school, no doubt. I think that one will be there for a while,” the coach said. “Hunter is such a competitor. In previous games he had a few drops that would’ve helped. He has been working really hard. He’s not a rah-rah guy but he does a good job with relationships with his teammates and Friday he just got into the flow. He has all the throws.”
At least two of the TD passes were between 40 and 50 yards, Gatewood said.
Friday was also a record-setting night for Tony Francois, Moore’s teammate and his primary target against Walker Valley. Four of Francois’ seven catches went for TDs and he finished with 305 yards.