Academy Park’s Moors out to prove himself

SHARON HILL >> Taylor Moors could feel the pressure around him. The pocket was collapsing and he was on the verge of being sacked.

The Academy Park junior quarterback calmly made his reads in the face of adversity, moved to his right and found an open receiver. Moors threw a perfect strike for a first down.

The play occurred in Academy Park’s 21-7 victory over Lansdale Catholic last Friday night.  A similar scene would transpire a couple other times over the course of the Knights’ fourth straight win to begin the 2015 season.

As a varsity newcomer, Moors is turning heads with smart decision making and accurate passing. His innate ability to stay poised under pressure is one trait that has made him successful in the first month of the season.

“You don’t know what Taylor is thinking because he has the W.B. frog face all the time. He’s stoic,” Academy Park coach Jason Vosheski said. “He’s more mature than probably kids five years older than he is. He takes it all in, he’s cool under pressure. It’s everything you want in a quarterback and he’s only going to get better.”

Moors is constantly looking for ways to improve. He’s a football rat. He’ll spend hours studying film on Hudl and picks the brain of his brother and Academy Park freshman coach, Mike Moors, whom he lives with.

“I’m just always trying to motivate myself and I’m always telling myself that I have to pick it up,” Taylor said. “I look at a lot of film. You can learn a lot from doing that.”

Mike is Taylor’s older sibling, mentor and football coach all rolled into one. The elder Moors, 27, was the starting quarterback at Academy Park in 2005 and remembers the times Taylor would come to his games and cheer him on. Mike  likes to tell the story when a 6-year-old Taylor drew him a picture in school a few days after a game against Bishop Shanahan late in his senior season. In one of his best performances that year, Mike passed for 250 yards and two TDs in a 20-14 loss.

While their roles in the Academy Park football program couldn’t be more different, the younger Moors still hopes to best his brother’s accomplishments.

Call it a brotherly rivalrly 10 years in the making.

“I’m trying to chase him. That’s one of my main goals, to do better than him in every sport,” said Moors, who has been a pitcher on the varsity baseball team since his freshman year. “He helps me out a lot, too. He’ll watch film with me at home and show me different things. He played here and he played quarterback, so he knows a lot and can show me what I’m doing wrong and how to get better.”

Taylor is ranked in the top-10 percent in his junior class and takes college courses at Delaware County Community College. He’s diligent and a hard worker, in and out of the classroom.  

“He holds himself to very high standards,” Mike Moors said. “He expects to flourish and always striving to be the best.”

So much so that Taylor occasionally gets down on himself if he feels as though he’s not meeting those expectations..

“But that doesn’t change who he is,” Mike said. “He’ll just keep going at it.”

While Mike was a scrambler under then-rookie head coach Vosheski 10 years ago, Taylor will never be mistaken for a speed demon. However,  both brothers can be described as accurate throwers.

“He’s so smart with Xs and Os,” Mike Moors said. “He’s not the fastest guy. Instead he makes a play by going through his progressions and gets the ball out as soon as possible.”

Taylor was 7-of-9 for 175 yards and a touchdown pass in the Lansdale Catholic game. Moors’ and the Knights’ Friday night game at home with Cardinal O’Hara (1-3) was cancelled due to inclement weather. Attempts to reschedule to Saturday afternoon were unsuccessful.

After four weeks, the Knights are undefeated and Taylor Moors is a big reason.

With a 57.8 completion percentage, 451 passing yards and four touchdowns (versus only one interception), Moors has complemented the Knights’ slew of talented skill players.  He fits in with a team that expects to win another Del Val League championship and vie for its second District One Class AAA title in three years.

Taylor Moors is proving that he belongs.