Duane Moore

As a 6-foot, 188-pound football player, Duane Moore was a handful to bring down once he had picked up a full head of steam on the Gyro Field playing surface.

Moore helped the Fishermen compile a 17-6-1 win-loss record over his three years of varsity play. His senior season saw the Astorians (6-0-1) finish a near perfect season. Their one tie was to Coos Bay’s Marshfield High School (9-0-1), the state’s number one rated team.

Known as “Duke” to his teammates, the physically mature Moore tallied eleven touchdowns and eight extra points during his final year wearing the colors of Astoria High School. An impressive total when you consider that Bob Hjorten and Pete Bryant were also fixtures in that 1942 backfield.

During Moore’s junior year he was involved in one of the most memorable plays in the long history of Astoria High School football. It was Armistice Day, 1941, just a few weeks before the Japanese made their unannounced visit to Pearl Harbor. Astoria and Seaside were hooked up in one of those Clatsop County donnybrooks on the Seaside field.

Astoria led 12-0 and was driving for another touchdown. With the ball at the eleven yard line, Moore bolted off tackle, broke towards the sideline and an unobstructed lane to the goal-line. That’s where a Seaside rooter lunged from the crowd and brought the unsuspecting Moore down at the three yard line. Officials spotted the ball at the two yard line where Moore cracked in for a touchdown on the following play, and added the extra point while Seaside’s inebriated 12th-man was wiping blood from a dripping and badly damaged nose, which had taken the full brunt of one of Moore’s powerful knees.

Basketball coach Wally Palmberg liked Moore’s aggressive play and moved him to the varsity as a sophomore. Although playing time would be limited, with the likes of Cliff Crandall, Roy Seeborg, and Stan Williamson to choose from, Moore could always claim two state championships and a 70-14 career win-loss record for his high school hoop resume.

After graduating from Oregon State University, and a trip to the Pineapple Bowl in Honolulu with the Beavers, Moore would become the head football mentor at Beaverton High School. Moore guided the Beavers for twenty-four seasons. His teams recorded winning seasons in twenty-one of those campaigns.