WXXV Student-Athlete of the Week: Hancock Football’s Dylan Moran

As we enter week five of high school football along the Mississippi Gulf Coast,  the only team that remains with a perfect record of 4-0 is Hancock. The Hawks are led by WXXV Student-Athlete of the Week, Dylan Moran, who’s playing for something much bigger than the game of football this season.

When it comes to high school football on the gulf coast… no one has a better record than the Hancock Hawks, and statistically speaking, no quarterback is having a better season through four games than Dylan Moran, who’s already thrown for more than 800 yards and 14 touchdowns, to just one interception, but at the end of the day, he’s more of a ‘we’ guy than a ‘me’ guy.

“My receivers, I worked with them all summer, I mean we put in countless hours of work together and the running backs, pretty much ever, the o-line mostly though, they’re my guys,” Moran said. “Knowing you’re the guy that runs everything really, I mean it feels great especially when you get big wins.”

Big wins to say the least. The Hawks are on a roll defeating every team they’ve faced so far by at least 22 points and now off to a 4-0 start for the first time in a long time.

“We’re all under pressure right now to keep it going. It feels good to be undefeated. I mean it’s the first time in 23 years I think that we’ve been 4-0, so we’re just trying to keep that alive,” said Moran.

The pressure of keeping the streak alive is no joke, but given Moran’s legacy, the odds are in the Hawks’ favor. The quarterback roots run deep for Moran, dating all the way back to his dad being an offensive lineman for two-time super bowl champion Eli Manning and the Ole Miss Rebels.

 “I’m obviously not built like a lineman, so I mean it kind of just fell into place playing quarterback,” Dylan said looking down and laughing.

More recently, his cousin, Wyatt Davis,  played quarterback at Pearl River Central before winning a National Championship with East Mississippi Community College and is now a successful private quarterback coach as the founder of 601 Elite.

“I’m trying to follow-up him and do better than he did, and he helps me out a lot. He’s one of my biggest supporters. Him and my uncle Billy were,” said Moran.

Moran’s uncle, Billy Davis, lost a hard-fought battle to cancer right before his senior season. The heart-breaking loss had a huge impact on Moran and his family, but now he’s using it as motivation, knowing he’ll be watching his nephew at every game from up above.

“I mean, playing under him, it’s great knowing that he could see every game, and last year he was at every game, so I’m just trying to impress him really,” Moran said. 

The yards and completions are great, but the dream season means much more to Moran and the Hancock community. The Hawks are now striving for goals that have been seemingly out of reach for years building their lasting legacy on top of their 2023 motto which is standard over feelings.

  “1989 is the last time we’ve won a district championship, so yeah. Just to have a banner hanging in the gym with all of our names on it would be great. It’d be a great feeling,” said Moran.

Moran and the Hawks will continue to work towards that vision as they head to Vancleave on Friday night.