Moss Makes Best of Situation

The rumors started soon after standout running back Durrell Moss completed his junior football season at Orange High.

He was supposed to transfer.

His team had finished 2-8 and 0-10 the last two seasons. Through spring and summer, people still believed that Moss wouldn’t stay at a losing program for fear it might jeopardize his college chances. But they didn’t know Moss.

“It’s a bunch of lies over and over,” Moss said. “It’s not about who I play for. It’s friendship and family. You bond with your teammates. You can’t just leave them. I wouldn’t do that.”

Moss rushed for 1,782 yards as a junior and has come back to gain 991 yards this season for the improving Panthers, who are 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the Golden West League. They still have to play two of the top three teams in league.

Two weeks ago, he accepted a scholarship to Washington, proving that college coaches don’t care about a team’s record.

There’s an erroneous assumption made by many parents that teenage athletes are unlikely to receive a college scholarship by playing for a losing program. Far more important is what a high school coach does to alert recruiters about a potential prospect.

Second-year Orange Coach Greg Gibson made sure college coaches were aware of Moss. He put together a highlight tape, grade transcript and biography and sent them off to schools. Coaches came in last spring to watch the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder and saw for themselves his 4.4 40-yard speed.

“People get all caught up in what high school they’re from,” Gibson said. “Coach [Rick] Neuheisel [of Washington] said they could care less. They want to see how good players are by the tape and come and watch them live. They offered a scholarship based on what they saw.”

While some players have been known to change addresses just to have the chance to play on a championship team, Moss thought the more worthy challenge would be to stay and help his team succeed.

“It’s fun to win, but I have fun playing,” he said. “A win comes with hard work. Going somewhere else, I don’t feel that’s very athlete-like. I stayed to try to make things better and they’re working out.”

Moss said the team has complete trust in Gibson to turn around the Orange program.

“Everyone on the team knows where we would be without him,” Moss said. “He’s a great coach. He tells us what to do and we do it. He doesn’t have to yell or boss us around. He has the effect where people want to listen to him.

“He went out of his way to help me, and he didn’t have to do it. I wouldn’t have a scholarship to Washington without him.”

Moss has rushed for more than 100 yards in all seven Orange games this season. His best performance was 231 yards against Costa Mesa. He’s averaging 8.5 yards per carry.

He could be a running back, receiver, defensive back or kick returner in college. He doesn’t care. He’ll leave it up to the coaches to determine his best position.

The Washington coaches will soon learn they’re gaining more than a football player. They have discovered a 17-year-old who already possesses the values to succeed in many phases of life.

“You make your own decisions,” Moss said. “People choose to transfer. I didn’t. It’s like a job. Why would you quit every other year? Are you going to do a different job because you like that better?

“I just feel if you’ve been in a program, you should stick with it. A person with a good work ethic who really cares about people around them will stick with it to make everyone else better.”

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.