HATTIESBURG — It was a long journey for Charles Moore at Louisville High School — filled with ups and downs — but it’s finally come to an end in the best way possible as the Wildcats won the 4A State Championship with a 25-20 victory over Poplarville.
Moore has been a staple on the Wildcat defense since middle school but he has yet to see his team win a state championship. On Saturday in Hattiesburg, he got that opportunity as the Wildcats played for their ninth title in school history.
In what would be legendary head coach M.C. Miller’s final game at Louisville, they came from behind to beat Poplarville for the Class 4A championship and Moore went out on top with his coach.
“It was a great accomplishment for my coach and my city. I want to thank God,” Moore said of the championship win. “We fought hard and had to make a lot of adjustments in the second half. We sent coach Miller out with a bang.”
Last season was a disappointment for both Moore and his team as they came up short in the playoffs and he missed the entire season due to a torn ACL. He spent the offseason working hard to rehab and finished the year with 79 tackles and 9.0 tackles for loss.
While the numbers look nice, he didn’t think he lived up to his expectations.
“Coming off of the ACL, I had a rough season,” Moore said. “I had a lot of growing pains trying to find myself but my teammates and coaches helped me through it. Now it’s time for me to keep molding as a player.”
His potential future defensive coordinator has been keeping tabs on the four-star defensive lineman as Mississippi State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop took in the state championship matchup on Saturday.
Shoop coached the nation’s top scoring defense this season with the Bulldogs in his first season and Moore was impressed. He was even more impressed that his coach came to see him in his final high school game.
“That was awesome that they showed their support for me. I was thankful to see him,” Moore said of the defensive coordinator’s visit. “They had the number one defense in the country and he came out and watched our defense. I feel like he was pretty impressed by our defense. It was great to see him in the audience.”
While Moore maintains his commitment to the nearby university, he has others still coming after him and he plans to take all five of his official visits. Among those in the running are LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Auburn, who he plans to visit on December 7-9.
He doesn’t plan to sign this month as he wants to visit all of the schools in pursuit before making a decision.
“I still like what I’ve got going on with Mississippi State right now, but I just want to keep my mind open to make sure that’s the place I want to be,” Moore said. “At the end of the day, this is a life-changing decision. I’m going to be the one running the 110’s and throwing up in the summer time. I’m going to take my time and weigh the decision out to make sure that Mississippi State is the right fit.”
