When opposing coaches talk about the Union football team, the words big and strong are often used.
Those words describe junior offensive lineman Jacob Moore to a tee.
Moore, who stands at 6-foot-1 and weighs 275 pounds, enters his junior year as arguably the strongest player in the Class 2A football, coming off back-to-back state powerlifting titles.
Moore set the Class 2A record for his weight division with a 1,605-pound total. Moore had a 675-pound squat, also the best in 2A, a 315-pound bench and a 615-pound deadlift, also the best in all of 2A.
Moore said he believes the weight room helps him on the football field.
“The strength of all the lifts that we do really helps us being able to compete on the line,” Moore said. “It helps drive defensive lineman and it gives me a lot of pride in myself. It gives me something else to compete for.”
Union football coach Brad Breland, who played offensive line in college, knows he has a good one in Moore.
“He’s doing all the camps and will start to come out a little bit because he is so strong and so explosive,” Breland said. “He runs real well. He made a big jump from his freshman year to last year. Part of that was he went from being a ninth grader to a 10th grader but he also put on 30 pounds and had already played 12 games. The game slowed down and got some confidence from being a year older. He has a load of talent. He pulls really well and has got really good feet. The only thing he needs to do is get a little tougher, a little meaner. Other than that, he’s really solid.”
While Moore stands at 6-foot-1, Breland said a few more inches of height and everyone would be after Moore.
“They say he has some growing left to do,” Breland said. “A few inches would make a huge difference for him as far as recruiting is concerned. When you get to 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4, it puts you in a whole different category. He is getting some interest but he needs to grow a little bit if he is going to play Division I football. I think he is tall enough and obviously strong enough, and quick enough that he can play center or guard in college for sure.”
Moore starts at right guard for the Yellowjackets, which Breland said is perfectly suited for him.
“He has got really good hips and had more pancakes last year than I have seen in a long time,” Breland said. “He’s so powerful on his pulls and kickouts that he does a good job with that. I expect him to be better at this year with another year under his belt.”
Moore, who was named to The Meridian Star’s Premier Preps of East Mississippi football team as an offensive lineman, said despite his success on the field he knows he has room for improvement.
“I know I need to improve on a lot of things,” Moore said. “I think a lot of it would be in foot movement on the line. I’ve worked hard on my footwork this summer and not being so stiff. You have to get a mentality that the guy across from you can’t beat you or be better than you. You have to take it whistle to whistle.”
Breland said as good as Moore was last year, he hopes he’s even better this year.
“He needs to finish blocks,” Breland said. “Some of the best linemen that I have seen in high school are the ones who finish blocks. It’s a violent game, you have to punish the defender. You have to pancake them and that’s what he has to do. He has to get meaner and tougher.”
While Union is just a Class 2A school, they played against some of the better small-school lineman against Philadelphia, Scott Central and Nanih Waiya last year.
“He did well against those upper level schools like Philadelphia and Scott Central,” Breland said. “Another thing that hurt us at Philly, Jacob rolled his ankle and has to manage that a little bit and learn to play through some pain and stuff like that. But I thought he had some of his better games against those guys.”
Moore said as he has gotten older, he has started to take the game more serious.
“When you start playing, you don’t take it as serious as you need to,” Moore said. “I see that it might not last forever and it gets a lot more important as I get older. I want to get in there and win a championship and want to try to get the guys to look up to me.”
Moore is also an honor roll student in the classroom. He has a 3.7 GPA and made an 18 on the ACT as a freshman. Moore said even if he doesn’t play college football, he still wants a degree. He said he would like to pursue a degree in either engineering or something in agriculture saying he “likes to build stuff and likes to be outside.”
When he’s not playing football or lifting weights, Moore said he works at Union Country Club where he cuts grass and weed eats.
