Defensive end tackles adversity for No. 9 Cairo

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Posted 5:45AM on Thursday, November 4, 2004

CAIRO - Some people are born with their backs against a wall, put in a situation that is destined for failure. Some of those people lay down in the face of adversity while others get knocked down only to come back swinging. Monterious Moore belongs in the latter group. Cairo's star defensive end has been forced to fight great odds for most of his life. From bouncing around house to house as a middle schooler, to being homeless, to raising himself on his own, he has had obstacles to overcome. And like a true fighter, he has overcome those obstacles to become arguably the best defensive football player in the area and an honor-roll student at the same time. It all began when Moore was in the sixth grade and his mother moved the family to Florida. Moore stayed in Cairo with relatives for two months until reluctantly moving prior to the start of seventh grade. Unable to enroll in class in Florida, and after missing two weeks of school, he moved back to Cairo. For the next three years, he moved around, living with relatives and friends. After one of those friends moved, and with no place to live, Moore had a tough decision to make. ``Do I stay in school and not know where I will live? Or, do I drop out, get a job and find a place to live?'' he said. He discussed that decision with guidance counselor Yvonne Stewart before making a major mistake. ``She talked to me and told me, 'Think about it and make the right decision,''' Moore said. ``I thought about it and I decided to stay in school. Dropping out was never an option.'' Moore and Stewart's daughter Alex, also a Cairo High School student, were good friends. Alex told her mother about Moore's situation and Stewart immediately put him in a hotel for a couple of days and began making calls. She contacted a friend who had an uncle with a vacant house and been looking for somebody to keep an eye on it. Stewart told him Moore's story and a deal was struck. ``They said as long as I stayed in school, kept up my grades and kept up the house, I could stay there,'' Moore said. Moore has been living in the house for nearly a year, steadily increased his grades and currently is an honor-roll student. He has paid many of the bills and moved his mother and his siblings in with him. ``I'm just trying to be responsible,'' Moore said. ``I've had to become a man before I was a teenager. It's not that easy to pay bills on my own.'' But growing up quick has made Moore who he is. It's also the main reason when he steps on the football field, good things happen. Getting past a 275-pound tackle is a cake walk compared to what he has gone through in everyday life. ``Every Friday, I use that anger and aggressiveness on the field,'' Moore said. ``Before the game, I sit there and think about every thing I have gone through and channel that negative energy into something positive.'' ``He's always intense,'' Cairo head coach Tom Fallaw said. ``It's not just on Friday. We're proud of him. He has done a great job.'' Through nine games, Moore had 13.5 sacks, 75 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and one blocked punt. But his most impressive accomplishment came recently in Minnesota when he won a $1,000 scholarship from the LeTendre Education Fund for Homeless Children. Moore is only the second person to win the award from Georgia. ``Monterious is a very determined individual,'' Stewart said.