New Kensington native Skyy Moore growing into receiver role at Western Michigan

Back in 1982, the Cal football team pulled off a historic 25-20 comeback against Stanford when the Golden Bears completed a series of laterals on an end-of-the-game kickoff.

At the end of the play, Kevin Moen ended up having to sprint through a grouping of Stanford band members and into the end zone after they thought the game was over. The moment was coined “The Play,” and it has gone down as one of the best moments in college football history.

Just recently, New Kensington’s own Skyy Moore, who is currently a sophomore at Western Michigan and played high school football at Shady Side Academy, got to be a part of a moment just like it.

As his Broncos trailed Ball State 30-27 with a trip to the Mid-American Conference championship on the line, Moore and his teammates started completing a series of laterals, just like Cal, on the final play of the game.

Moore, who played quarterback at Shady Side, received the first swing pass and immediately threw a cross-field pass to try to get a teammate open enough to run downfield.

“Everyone was throwing short to medium passes and I was just trying to throw it all the way across the field,” Moore said with a laugh. “I definitely put some spin on it.”

The Broncos tried to work their way downfield, but after 14 laterals, there was a fumble on the play and Ball State thought the game was over and its entire sideline ran onto the field. The whistle was never blown, though, and Moore ended up with the ball in his hands.

“Luke (Sanders) was trying to maneuver through the traffic, and I was just like, ‘Gimme the ball, gimme the ball,” said Moore, who got the ball around Western Michigan’s 45-yard line. “Once I got the ball, one of our coaches was like, ‘Score, score, score.’”

Moore took the ball 55 yards to the house, but the play ended up getting called back due to a forward pass early on in the play, and Ball State was rewarded with the victory.

“The only time I remember doing that was when we played in Ar-Ken in little league and we would do it at practice for fun,” Moore said. “We walk through it every week in practice, though, so we knew it was coming. I knew I was going to be the first person to get it, so I just had to start it off.”

Western Michigan’s desperation attempt to punch its ticket to the MAC championship came up short, but it was a memorable moment from a special sophomore season for Moore.

Moore finished the game with eight catches for 105 yards and had 25 catches for 388 yards and three touchdowns in just six games this year.

As a freshman last season, Moore made the switch from quarterback to wide receiver and has been an integral part of the Western Michigan offense ever since. He played every wide receiver position this season and in terms of learning the position, made giant leaps forward.

“I felt like this season, I got a lot better even though it probably didn’t show in the stats as much as it could have,” Moore said. “But I got a lot better this season. I’m more of a receiver than I was last year as well for sure”

Moore attributed a lot of his growth this season to No. 1 receiver D’Wayne Eskridge, who’s been somewhat of a mentor to him the past two seasons. Eskridge tallied 784 receiving yards and eight touchdowns on 34 catches this year.

Over the past two years, Eskridge has been able to teach Moore a lot about being a receiver, but Moore said just being able to watch him helped tremendously.

“He would give me a lot of tips that he would tell me, but I’m a very observant person, so he wouldn’t even need to tell me,” Moore said. “I want to see how you move, how you play the game and how you conduct yourself off the field. So, the way he conducted himself gave me a lot of insight about how I want to conduct myself in the future.”

As a junior next season, Moore wants to take on a bigger role as he continues to grow as a leader on the team. Eskridge paved the way, and now Moore is looking to take another step forward as both a player and a leader.

“I feel like for myself, I just have to continue stacking up these years and keep getting better and keep showing progression to get to the next level,” Moore said. “But I want to be remembered as one of the reasons we went to the (MAC) championship, and we’ve been so close the past two years. I want to take it upon myself to get us there.”