The Big 10 pipeline continues for Newberry High School.

Last year, defensive lineman Jarquez Carter signed with Ohio State, and on Wednesday, wide receiver Hayden Moore signed with the University of Minnesota.

“Yeah, it’s definitely a blessing,” said Newberry football coach Ed Johnson. “It’s two years in a row, Big 10. Hayden deserves everything he’s got coming. Kid works hard, and you know, we’re going to keep working and try to do things the right way.”

Moore, who made it official at “7 a.m. on the dot” on Wednesday, held a signing ceremony on Thursday at Newberry.

He chose the Golden Gophers over Vanderbilt, his second option, and Penn State, among others.

“It’s a great feeling,” Moore said. “Minnesota has just always been great to me, and this feeling of getting the opportunity to play ball at the next level, it’s just honestly great. I just love being a Gopher, and everything is great right now.”

He transferred to Newberry after his freshman season at P.K. Yonge, where he had 20 catches for 472 yards and five touchdowns.

“Instantly from day one, he fit in,” Johnson said. “He worked hard, and he just came in and produced, especially that sophomore year, he came in and lit it up, and he’s been doing it ever since.”

Instantly, indeed.

Moore (6’2, 200) had 44 catches for 940 yards and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore for the Panthers, who finished 9-3 and advanced to the second round of the FHSAA Rural state playoffs.

He missed two games due to a concussion last year as a junior but still finished the season with 982 yards receiving and 12 TDs on 51 catches as Newberry (10-3) won its first district title since 2007.

As a senior, the preseason Super 11 selection led the team with 30 catches for 367 yards and three touchdowns despite missing a couple of games after suffering a concussion against Vanguard (Ocala).

He saved his best for last, with two explosive plays in a must-win game against Trinity Catholic (Ocala) in the regular season finale, which helped put the Panthers (5-6) back in the state playoffs.

“Opening kickoff, he takes it back 90 plus yards, and he has a catch later on, but then late in the second quarter he gets a hand off and takes it 80 plus yards,” Johnson said. “That’s two 80+ touchdowns in a half, and you can just see the difference in this athlete compared to the other 21 guys on the field. We needed him to step up. We needed him to play, and he stepped up in a big way.”

For his career, which includes his freshman season at P.K. Yonge, he has 145 receptions for 2,761 yards and 32 receiving touchdowns (34 total touchdowns), which puts him among the best all-time in Alachua County.

“He’s explosive, man,” Johnson said. “He’s big, strong, physical. He works at his craft, and you kind of see that carry over to the field on Friday nights. He can do whatever you need. You need a middle of the field kind of guy to go get catches, you need somebody to take the top off,  he can do all that, and he can put it in his hands and let him run it too.”

Moore decided to forego his senior season in basketball so he could enroll early in January.

“You get up there, you get acclimated, without having to do it during the season, in the fall, you get spring practice, you get a whole system, a whole spring in that system, and it’s just beneficial,” Johnson said. “Quez (Jarquez) loved it, Mykah (Newton) loved it. I think it benefits all those guys. If you can, in that position, I think everybody should do it.”

Moore said Carter, Newton and Logan McCloud, who signed with Wofford last year, helped him a lot.

“They made me understand you have to have a work ethic…because those boys worked really hard to get where they wanted to go,” he said. “They taught me how to talk to coaches. They taught me everything that I needed to know on the field and off the field. They really helped me be a better person and just become the athlete I am today.”