LAURINBURG —Marlin Moore put pen to paper Tuesday at the Scotland High School media center, signing his letter of intent to play football at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke in the fall. Surrounded by family, friends and teammates, Moore made it official in front of supporters.
“It feels amazing,” Moore said. “I thank God, my mother, teammates and coaches for this opportunity to play football and take my talents to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.”
Moore suffered a torn ACL in Week 2 of his senior season against the Richmond Senior Raiders. When all hope seemed to be lost, he didn’t waver; he pushed himself even more to recover fully and commit to a Division II university.
“I just want to thank the UNCP coaches for giving me this chance to play football and sticking with me through my recovery process. They’re going to get the best player out of me, and I’m going to give them everything I got,” he said.
Head coach Richard Bailey praised Moore and highlighted just how important he will be moving forward in the Scotland High football program.
“He checked off all the boxes in this day and age of recruiting, where it’s getting increasingly harder to get college football scholarships. Marlin trained hard to put himself in a situation to receive scholarship offers.”
“When he suffered the torn ACL, there were some dark times when Marlin doubted himself and questioned God, but he never quit because he loved his teammates, the program and the game. If there was ever a kid who has earned the right to play college football, it’s him.”