Travis Moore is as dominant a high school fullback as the South Coast has had the past few football seasons. It’s hard to imagine he almost was a guard.

When the Gold Beach standout was a freshman, coach Kevin Swift thought about putting him on the offensive line, rather than splitting time at fullback with Mackenzie Lee, another standout.

“I contemplated it,” Swift said. “I’m glad I didn’t.”

Moore had played tight end in middle school — a weight limit kept him from being a running back —and says now that he wasn’t opposed to a switch to guard.

“I was pretty much up for anything,” said Moore, who just wanted to play. “It didn’t really bother me.”

As Moore’s dad, Gary “Bean” Moore, recalls, Lee had a problem with his shoulder pads during a game and Travis went in to replace him. Two touchdowns later, Moore was a fullback for the rest of his career.

That career has been filled with highlights — both on offense and on defense, where he has spent his entire time as a standout linebacker.

Last year, Moore was the offensive player of the year for Class 3A. He had five touchdowns in the Panthers’ championship-game victory over Vale. This year, teammate Jeff Knox was offensive player of the year in the Sunset Conference, while Moore took top defensive honors.

Swift’s pretty sure what would have happened if he had made Moore into a lineman.

“He’s a perfect guard for our offense,” the coach said, comparing him to a recent all-state lineman for the Panthers. “He’s another Anthony Simera. Those guys are diamonds in the rough.

“He’d be an all-state guard. And the guy running behind him would be an all-state fullback, because he’s as good as he is.”

As it is, Moore has made his mark on offense with bruising runs up the middle, often pulling defenders with him for extra yards.

He’s quick to credit Gold Beach’s powerful offensive line for much of his success, but he gets plenty of yards after he’s hit, keeping his legs driving until the whistle blows. And he’s also deceptively quick and able to spring free for big gains in the open field when the line — as it often does — creates an open running lane.

Perhaps surprisingly given how good he is on offense, Moore likes playing defense better.

“You have to read the offense every play,” he said. “It’s not like you know what’s going to happen. I like that.”

He is a one-man wrecking crew at linebacker, in part because he’s a sure tackler — the benefit of spending the past decade as a wrestler.

“He’s quick,” Swift said. “He’s a wrestler. He likes to tackle.”

But the coach also said Moore has great instincts.

“The outside linebacker will sometimes be put on an island by himself, and he can handle that,” Swift said.

Moore clearly is a standout football player. Swift would rather people hear about what a complete person he is.

“I don’t need to talk about his talents — they’re kind of laid out there for everyone to see,” Swift said.

Rather, he points out that Moore is a leader within the team and a National Honor Society member in the classroom.

“He’s a bright kid with a great work ethic,” Swift said.

The coach attributes another key characteristic of Moore to his parents, Gary and Vi.

“He’s amazingly humble,” Swift said. “He’s amazingly team-first.

“Those are family values that we are able to reinforce.”

Moore would have every reason to consider himself worthy of star treatment.

He’s been the starting catcher on the baseball team since his freshman year and has had wrestling success to rival his football accolades. After starting in the Gold Beach Mat Club as a first-grader, he placed several years at the Reno World Championships, and also won the prestigious Rocky Mountain National Championship in Denver when he was in middle school. As a high schooler, he improved from third as a freshman to second as a sophomore and state champion last year.

Moore said he finds it easy to stay level-headed.

“It’s just my personality,” he said. “I just kind of feel like if I can do it, why can’t anyone else?

“I don’t see myself above anyone else. I just think of myself as a normal kid.”

Moore is not a normal student.

He’s part of a pioneer family in the town — Gary said the Moores have been in Gold Beach since the 1860s.

Within the current generation, Moore is the third sibling in his family to be an athlete at Gold Beach, following older sister Kylee and older brother T.J. His cousin, Nathan, graduated with T.J. last year — both also were key players on the state champion team — while Nathan’s two sisters are in the high school now.

Gary Moore said that, along with Kylee and T.J., it’s been a joy watching Travis as he’s come through the school.

“It’s been great,” Gary said. “He does all the work. I just get to watch.”