PUBLISHED ON November 8, 2006
Is Prosser's Moore the best ever?
By SCOTT SANDSBERRY YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
It's a bad year to be an outstanding high school quarterback in this part of the state, unless your name happens to be Kellen Moore. Because no matter what you do, you can't outdo him.
In Ellensburg, Randle Affholter has passed for 3,319 yards and 32 touchdowns, regular-season totals unsurpassed by any prep quarterback in Valley history ... except for, of course, Kellen Moore.
In Grandview, Matt Concienne has thrown for more than 2,000 yards, one of the most prolific seasons in Valley history, leaving such luminaries as Cary Conklin, Scott Linehan and Andy Collins in his dust ... but not, of course, Kellen Moore.
For that matter, Ike's Zach Gavin, Cle Elum's Josh Johnson and Selah's Kyle Washut have also put up numbers that, in an ordinary year, might be hogging headlines.
But what Moore, that Boise State-bound, coach's-son phenom at Prosser, has been doing this year for his Mustangs is anything but ordinary.
His season-long performance has, in fact, not been outdone by any high school quarterback.
Not just in this state. Any state.
Not just this year. Any year.
A Herald-Republic search for the most efficient and prolific single-season passing performances in national high school history - a search that started with the national high school record book and continued through numerous states' and school districts' archives, contacts with the quarterbacks' former coaches and, in one case, the QB himself - has resulted in this rather audacious suggestion:
Moore might well be having the best year - or, at least, the most efficient season - any high school quarterback has ever had.
And, not coincidentally, his favorite target, junior speedster Cody Bruns, is on pace to finish with the most productive receiving season any high schooler has ever had.
For the two to finish atop those lists, of course, they have to keep up the pace - and, more importantly, they have to keep winning. The undefeated Mustangs are in the playoffs now, and any loss is a season-ender.
"It's all about playing in that final game. All of that (statistical) stuff is meaningless if you don't win," says Mustangs coach (and Kellen's dad) Tom Moore, whose 10-0 team opens the postseason at home Friday against defending 2A state champion Pullman.
"Besides, if you really want to break records, the best thing is to be a team where the defense isn't real good, because you stay in the game."
That certainly isn't the case with Prosser, which has the stingiest defense in the 2A ranks, and Kellen Moore isn't piling on huge numbers at the expense of sportsmanship. Not even close. In fact, his numbers would be even more unworldly had not the Mustang coaching staff pulled both Moore and Bruns from every game early.
Of Moore's 58 regular-season touchdown passes, 44 were thrown in the first half; only two came in the fourth quarter, each with nearly 11 minutes remaining. Moore has, in fact, thrown only five fourth-quarter passes all season.
Against Toppenish, he threw for 392 yards and six first-half touchdowns - on just 18 total pass attempts. At Wapato, after passing for 247 yards in the first quarter and seven touchdowns in the first half, fans of the team he had just ravaged were asking him for autographs.
Quincy coach Bill Alexander, laughingly noting that his own team's 48-0 loss to Prosser could have been far worse had not the Mustangs' coaches been "very, very kind to us," came away from that game as impressed with Moore in person as he had been on film.
"It looks to me like he can throw every type of pass, which makes it important for him with his height [6-foot-1] and size [180 pounds]," Alexander says. "He can throw the dart, the fade, the touch pass, he can fit it through a slot. His mechanics are very strong.
"And he's the result of a very fine program, in that he was throwing the same passes, running the same offense, when the doctor cut his umbilical cord. The first sound he made was an audible. Some babies might go ma-ma, da-da ... the first thing he said was 'Blue-39! Blue-39!'"
And he's still doing that. Tom Moore says he calls the first two plays of every drive, but that after that Kellen is "pretty much running the show. And he knows what he's doing."
Tom Moore says his son's goals this year were almost entirely team-related, with only two statistical goals: six or fewer interceptions and a 70-percent completion rate. He's on par for that - three interceptions (along with 58 TD passes) and a 75.2-percent completion average, just ahead of Tim Couch's 1994 national record of 75.1.
Yet on the recruiting Web sites that profess to determine who's a "blue-chip" caliber recruit and who's not, dozens of quarterbacks are ranked ahead of Kellen Moore, whose 6-1 height and 40-yard time (4.97 in a recruiting combine at USC last year, the only time he's been clocked) don't look good to the recruiting gurus or, for that matter, to many Division I recruiters.
"All I can tell you is the Pac-10 schools weren't interested in him," Tom Moore says, noting that Washington State had "absolutely zero interest" and that Washington, Oregon and Oregon State were only mildly curious. "They want 'combine guys' - the right height, the right 40-yard time, that look good on paper."
But undefeated, 14th-ranked Boise State let Kellen know they wanted him above all others.
"They have a lot of guys that aren't combine guys, that are too short. They recruit football players," Tom Moore says. "They're not all hung up on how tall guys are and what guys run the 40 in. That's why they're ranked 14th in the nation.
"They pick one quarterback each year to recruit, and all they care about are two things: accuracy and decision-making."
A decision Kellen Moore has made often this year is to pass to Bruns - a junior who, along with sophomore receiver Kirby Moore (Kellen's brother), is getting the recruiting rush from Boise State. Bruns is on pace to challenge or surpass the national single-season records for receptions (132), yards (2,427) and receiving touchdowns (33).
Like Moore, Bruns would have much gaudier numbers were he to remain in games longer. But whenever Moore is done for the day at QB, Bruns is done at receiver.
And both would tell you the only important aspect to all of that numbers stuff is this: The Mustangs' season is not done.
Is Prosser's Moore the best ever?
By SCOTT SANDSBERRY YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
It's a bad year to be an outstanding high school quarterback in this part of the state, unless your name happens to be Kellen Moore. Because no matter what you do, you can't outdo him.
In Ellensburg, Randle Affholter has passed for 3,319 yards and 32 touchdowns, regular-season totals unsurpassed by any prep quarterback in Valley history ... except for, of course, Kellen Moore.
In Grandview, Matt Concienne has thrown for more than 2,000 yards, one of the most prolific seasons in Valley history, leaving such luminaries as Cary Conklin, Scott Linehan and Andy Collins in his dust ... but not, of course, Kellen Moore.
For that matter, Ike's Zach Gavin, Cle Elum's Josh Johnson and Selah's Kyle Washut have also put up numbers that, in an ordinary year, might be hogging headlines.
But what Moore, that Boise State-bound, coach's-son phenom at Prosser, has been doing this year for his Mustangs is anything but ordinary.
His season-long performance has, in fact, not been outdone by any high school quarterback.
Not just in this state. Any state.
Not just this year. Any year.
A Herald-Republic search for the most efficient and prolific single-season passing performances in national high school history - a search that started with the national high school record book and continued through numerous states' and school districts' archives, contacts with the quarterbacks' former coaches and, in one case, the QB himself - has resulted in this rather audacious suggestion:
Moore might well be having the best year - or, at least, the most efficient season - any high school quarterback has ever had.
And, not coincidentally, his favorite target, junior speedster Cody Bruns, is on pace to finish with the most productive receiving season any high schooler has ever had.
For the two to finish atop those lists, of course, they have to keep up the pace - and, more importantly, they have to keep winning. The undefeated Mustangs are in the playoffs now, and any loss is a season-ender.
"It's all about playing in that final game. All of that (statistical) stuff is meaningless if you don't win," says Mustangs coach (and Kellen's dad) Tom Moore, whose 10-0 team opens the postseason at home Friday against defending 2A state champion Pullman.
"Besides, if you really want to break records, the best thing is to be a team where the defense isn't real good, because you stay in the game."
That certainly isn't the case with Prosser, which has the stingiest defense in the 2A ranks, and Kellen Moore isn't piling on huge numbers at the expense of sportsmanship. Not even close. In fact, his numbers would be even more unworldly had not the Mustang coaching staff pulled both Moore and Bruns from every game early.
Of Moore's 58 regular-season touchdown passes, 44 were thrown in the first half; only two came in the fourth quarter, each with nearly 11 minutes remaining. Moore has, in fact, thrown only five fourth-quarter passes all season.
Against Toppenish, he threw for 392 yards and six first-half touchdowns - on just 18 total pass attempts. At Wapato, after passing for 247 yards in the first quarter and seven touchdowns in the first half, fans of the team he had just ravaged were asking him for autographs.
Quincy coach Bill Alexander, laughingly noting that his own team's 48-0 loss to Prosser could have been far worse had not the Mustangs' coaches been "very, very kind to us," came away from that game as impressed with Moore in person as he had been on film.
"It looks to me like he can throw every type of pass, which makes it important for him with his height [6-foot-1] and size [180 pounds]," Alexander says. "He can throw the dart, the fade, the touch pass, he can fit it through a slot. His mechanics are very strong.
"And he's the result of a very fine program, in that he was throwing the same passes, running the same offense, when the doctor cut his umbilical cord. The first sound he made was an audible. Some babies might go ma-ma, da-da ... the first thing he said was 'Blue-39! Blue-39!'"
And he's still doing that. Tom Moore says he calls the first two plays of every drive, but that after that Kellen is "pretty much running the show. And he knows what he's doing."
Tom Moore says his son's goals this year were almost entirely team-related, with only two statistical goals: six or fewer interceptions and a 70-percent completion rate. He's on par for that - three interceptions (along with 58 TD passes) and a 75.2-percent completion average, just ahead of Tim Couch's 1994 national record of 75.1.
Yet on the recruiting Web sites that profess to determine who's a "blue-chip" caliber recruit and who's not, dozens of quarterbacks are ranked ahead of Kellen Moore, whose 6-1 height and 40-yard time (4.97 in a recruiting combine at USC last year, the only time he's been clocked) don't look good to the recruiting gurus or, for that matter, to many Division I recruiters.
"All I can tell you is the Pac-10 schools weren't interested in him," Tom Moore says, noting that Washington State had "absolutely zero interest" and that Washington, Oregon and Oregon State were only mildly curious. "They want 'combine guys' - the right height, the right 40-yard time, that look good on paper."
But undefeated, 14th-ranked Boise State let Kellen know they wanted him above all others.
"They have a lot of guys that aren't combine guys, that are too short. They recruit football players," Tom Moore says. "They're not all hung up on how tall guys are and what guys run the 40 in. That's why they're ranked 14th in the nation.
"They pick one quarterback each year to recruit, and all they care about are two things: accuracy and decision-making."
A decision Kellen Moore has made often this year is to pass to Bruns - a junior who, along with sophomore receiver Kirby Moore (Kellen's brother), is getting the recruiting rush from Boise State. Bruns is on pace to challenge or surpass the national single-season records for receptions (132), yards (2,427) and receiving touchdowns (33).
Like Moore, Bruns would have much gaudier numbers were he to remain in games longer. But whenever Moore is done for the day at QB, Bruns is done at receiver.
And both would tell you the only important aspect to all of that numbers stuff is this: The Mustangs' season is not done.
