Massey football’s Moore makes Prospect Game squad

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This article was published 12/05/2022 (1423 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Carter Moore is on a path to success. Anyone trying to get in his way should know it comes with great risk.

The Vincent Massey Vikings offensive lineman is one of six Manitobans headed to the Canada Football Chat Prospect Game in Ottawa on May 27 at noon CDT. The game returns after two years off due to COVID-19 and features the top 70 high school prospects in Canada showcasing their talents live on TSN at TD Place Stadium, a few hours before the Toronto Argonauts visit the Ottawa Redblacks for a CFL pre-season tilt.

“It’s great. Honestly, it’s a relief,” Moore said. “It’s an honour and I just can’t wait to show everybody my talents in football. Especially 70 kids around Canada, me being picked, it’s great.”

Moore has yet to lose a high school football game. His junior varsity team enjoyed a perfect season in 2019, his freshman year.

The Grade 11 student lined up wherever he was needed in the fall as Massey went 6-0 in Winnipeg High School Football League action before downing Steinbach in the Westman Bowl on an ice-cold November night in Winnipeg. His usual spot was left tackle, he’d move around to stifle the best opposing lineman.

“I remember when we were playing Steinbach … there was one D-lineman that was giving us troubles,” said quarterback Justin Sharp. “He’s probably six-foot-four, close to 300 pounds if not over. He was a big dude. We moved Carter in to guard and Carter, first play, puts the kid on his butt and takes him out of the game.

“That’s not the important part … but Carter, you stick him anywhere, he’s going to do his job and do it well.”

Moore came back from the COVID-cancelled season at six-foot-six, 320 pounds and has since bulked up to 340. Listed as a guard by CFC, he’s an impenetrable wall and one of just two Manitoban offensive linemen to make the Prospect Game.

Moore credits the Vikings’ staff for pushing him, especially when it comes to fitness. Head coach Mike Steeves had the whole team run five minutes before the first practice, adding a minute each session to improve the group’s endurance.

“Vincent Massey has helped a lot,” Moore said. “The coaches, Steeves, (Kevin) Grindey, my teammates too … the hill runs, the spring workouts, all the hard work just (pushed) me to where I am now as a player and as a human being.”

Moore recorded a 6.59-second 40-yard dash and 17.4-inch vertical jump at the CFC combine in Winnipeg on April 14.

The offensive line is one of the few positions in sports that doesn’t come with many statistics. The ratio of importance to attention is wildly imbalanced in favour of the former.

“O-linemen are always in the trenches, pretty much never in the spotlight. That’s a great quote,” Moore said. “You always see the wide receivers, the quarterbacks getting interviewed for a five-touchdown game, 400-yard game. For O-linemen, it’s about the quarterback. The quarterback-O-lineman duo is great. I love Justin, he’s one of the best quarterbacks, I think, in Manitoba.

“It’s hard not getting recognized but now you see how important O-linemen are.”

Moore heads to Ottawa in a couple of weeks for practices on the three days leading up to the game, in which former Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Dunigan is his head coach against a team run by Davis Sanchez, who most notably played cornerback for the Montreal Alouettes.

In the meantime, he’s also vying for a spot on the under-18 provincial team, which travels to Kelowna, B.C., for the Football Canada Cup on July 9-17.

He’s been in contact with a few university programs and certainly hopes to play beyond his upcoming senior year. He’d like to stay close to home at a Canada West school but also sees how many more opportunities there are south of the border and welcomes the idea of NCAA ball.

Sharp thinks his top protector can make it happen for a few reasons.

“Carter is a big guy and that’s an understatement. He’s massive and you wouldn’t be able to tell that by how he moves,” Sharp said. “He moves very smooth for his size, he has quick feet and that’s a dangerous combo. When you get a big guy like Carter moving, not many people like to stand in front of that.

“He’s a dangerous O-lineman that’s willing to go and lay somebody out on every play.”

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