David Moore III breaks over 300 yards as 4A No. 1 Pine Creek football beats 3A No. 1 Palmer Ridge
MONUMENT — Pine Creek running back David Moore III has a lot of good memories from playing high school football.
His freshman year, he ran for 201 yards and a touchdown in the Eagles’ Class 4A state championship win over Broomfield. Eight times he has rushed for over 200 yards, all games in which Pine Creek came away victorious.
But when asked about his numbers in Saturday’s 49-28 win over 3A No. 1 Palmer Ridge, the senior – the uncommitted senior – couldn’t help but smile.
“I knew coach was feeding me the ball,” he said.
That was true. Todd Miller called Moore’s number often. The big guys up front cleared running lanes that container ships could’ve passed through. And Moore ran every bit as hard as he always does on his way to rushing the ball 31 times for 351 yards and four touchdowns.
“David’s performance, it’s an all-timer,” Miller said. “There was the state championship game, when he ripped off those yards against Broomfield. I remember maybe his freshman year against Fountain-Fort Carson. I think he went over 200. There’s, there’s a bunch of games, but this is right up there.”
But it wasn’t Moore that was the catalyst to get the 4A top-ranked Eagles (4-1 overall) moving. The first score of the game came on a touchdown pass from Gavin Herberg to Braden Kramer.
Palmer Ridge (4-1) answered right away as quarterback Luke McAllister found Raef Ruel for a 57-yard strike. Ruel’s one-handed grab tied the game and gave everyone in Don Breese Stadium the impression that a shootout was looming.
That’s when the David Moore III Show started. He ripped a 75-yard touchdown run and was far from finished. Over the course of the next three and a half quarters he found the end zone three times. In the second half alone he broke off runs of more than 20 yards four times. Three of those runs for over 30 yards.
He’s earned a night off, as have the five guys making up the human wall that provides lanes and gaps for Moore to run through.
“We feel that momentum,” tackle Ethan Kramer said. “We’re chasing the ball down the field. It feels good after a long drive for us to score a touchdown.”
With a Herberg rushing touchdown on top of everything, the Eagles went into the locker room with a 35-7 lead.
The defense even helped out as Max Lofy intercepted a McAllister pass, setting up the last touchdown of the half for Pine Creek.
“I want to thank the defense,” Moore said. “And I want to thank our defensive coordinator for making the game plan easier for our offense.”
The Bears were without wide receiver Anthony Roberson for the first half of the game and felt the immediate impact of his return in the third quarter. He helped keep Moore out of the end zone three times when the Eagles had ball inside the Palmer Ridge five-yard line.
He also ended the day with four catches for 158 yards and a touchdown.
A non-league, out of classification loss won’t hurt Palmer Ridge this season, but seeing this level of competition is crucial to the team’s hunt for a third straight state championship.
“We know that iron sharpens iron and anytime we have a chance to go against a great opponent, we know that it’s going to refine something in us and we believe that throughout the process that we’re going to get better each week,” Palmer Ridge coach Tom Pulford said.
That’s the plan with Pine Creek as well. They know that the win against Palmer Ridge will be regarded as one of their best wins on the season. But they must also learn from it and build on it.
“We just have to keep pushing and pushing,” Moore said. “We know we have an easier schedule coming up, but we can’t take anyone for granted.”
Even with a guy on the roster capable of going for over 300 yards in a game. It tends to make the rest of the game planning a tad easier.
