This is the third of a seven-part series that will take a look at the top players at each position among the Orlando area’s high school football teams with spring practices underway. Today we focus on the running backs:
Taihj Moore, junior, DeLand
DeLand football coach Rick Darlington is one of the most respected coaches in the state. Sometimes, however, even Coach D can make a mistake.
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Darlington had coached quarterback TJ Moore, for three seasons before TJ went off to South Carolina State in 2024. But Darlington wasn’t all that familiar with TJ’s little brother, Taihj.
“I knew he had a brother. I didn’t really know, that on the youth football level, he was really somewhat decorated as a running back,” Darlington said. “So when he came to me, as a freshman, I’m thinking, ‘He looks kind of like a receiver,’ because he was kind of thin’.”
All Moore needed was a couple of touches at running back to show Darlington what his true position should be.
Quiet DeLand freshman RB Taihj Moore is the next big thing | Football Insider
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“We were at FCA Camp and we needed a tailback to go in with the (second team) so we put him in,” Darlington said. “He started running with that style of his and we were thinking, ‘Oh gosh, this dude can run. Maybe he’s not a receiver. Maybe he’s a running back.’ ”
Since that realization, defenders have been falling at Moore’s feet in numbers. He is the top running back in the Orlando area, ranked No. 1 in the Sentinel’s 2028 Central Florida Super60, and he has put up big numbers in his first two seasons.
In total, he has rushed for 2,807 yards and 44 touchdowns and caught 33 passes for 521 yards and two more TDs. He has even thrown three TD passes. Moore has averaged 9.5 yards per carry and averages 10.5 yards every time he touches the football.
Moore is the type of talent that doesn’t come around very often. He already has 12 FBS scholarship offers.
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“He’s very hard to tackle in space and he’s got this move that he does, it’s kind of like this slash move. I tell everyone that I taught it to him, but nobody really believes that,” Darlington quipped. “But that’s the No. 1 thing, he’s kind of a slashing runner who is hard to get a bead on.
“The other thing is that he’s really, really strong for his size. He only weighs maybe about 180, but he power cleans 325, he parallel squats 425, he benches 275. That translates into his yards after contact, which is really high.”
He has vision, speed, balance and that ability to break tackles or make would-be tacklers miss. He also plays safety.
“He can throw it too and could probably be our quarterback and we would have no problems. He probably will be as a senior,” Darlington said, in reference to quarterback Gardner Nordman heading into his senior season. “He can run it, obviously, he can catch, he can play defense, he’s probably the best tackler on the team.
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“He’s just a natural football player.”
And he’s just getting better with time. By comparison to his freshman year, Moore gained two more yards per carry as a sophomore.
“I think he will just continue to naturally progress to be better. Look at the numbers. How much better can you do on a team where you are not getting the ball every down?” Darlington said. “You can put his first two seasons up against anyone in the country and I don’t know if you are going to find a better back.”
This year, his numbers could be even more impressive. Gone is an equally talented multi-position star in Marceles Carey, last year’s Sentinel Offensive Player of the Year. Carey put up similar numbers for a DeLand team that averaged 448 yards of offense per game. Carey is now at Bowling Green.
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But Darlington doesn’t expect Moore to carry the entire load.
“We have another guy, who ran a 4.28 (40-yard dash), Kaveon Jackson, so obviously he’s gonna get the ball too,” Darlington said of the tiny 5-5, 157-pound senior scat-back. “And I think Gardner Nordman is going to have a phenomenal year at quarterback for us. I think he’s really going to break out as a weapon.”
That should open things up for Moore, who is a quiet, humble young man. Asked last year how good he thought he was or could be, Moore said simply:
“People should just know that I’m a humble man and I just want to do good in these upcoming years.”
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He’s a walking cliche, letting his work on the field do his talking.
“Taihj is just quiet. I can’t remember him forming a sentence around me,” Darlington laughed. “He’s just a quiet kid, which is OK.”
Other top Orlando running backs
Issac Farling, junior, Mount Dora Christian
The talented Farling led MDCA to a 12-2 record and a spot in the Sunshine State Athletic Association championship game a year ago. He ran for 1,721 yards and 27 touchdowns as a sophomore, averaging nearly 9 yards per carry. He’s playing mostly against lower-level competition, but he has an FBS body and coaches love him. Texas Tech has already offered.
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Tamauri Collins, senior, Tavares
Collins is small, at 5-9, 175, but he’s tough and can carry the load. He ran for 1,478 and 25 touchdowns, averaging 8.4 yards per carry. He perforated a tough Bishop Moore defense in a big game last season for 314 yards and 3 TDs. He’s the catalyst in coach Gavin Jones’ single-wing offense and is possibly the fastest running back in Central Florida.
Jahmari Hammonds, sophomore, Edgewater
Hammonds (6-0, 185) broke on the scene in a big way last year, rushing for 1,555 yards and 24 touchdowns as a freshman at CFCA, where his competition was within the SSAA. Now he’s in with the big boys after transferring to Class 5A Edgewater and it will be very interesting to see how he does at a more competitive level.
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Nydrell Thigpen, junior, Kissimmee Gateway
Thigpen is a big back at 6-0, 210, and he will put his head down and run through a wall. He’s fast and tough and is also a gifted receiver whom coach Marlin Roberts will often spread out wide in formations. Thigpen ran for 1,383 yards and 14 touchdowns last season and he also led the Panthers in receiving with 26 catches for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.
