CANTON, Ohio — David Moore has only played with Haynes King for a few months. But even from the sideline, the moment Moore saw a lane open in front of King as the clock ticked down to triple zeros, he knew what his rookie quarterback was going to do.

"When they called it, and he didn't look (at the receiver), I knew he was going to run," smirked Moore, cutting his eyes over to the locker next to his where King was getting dressed and making a concerted effort not to pay attention to the talk going on around him that was also very much about him.

But after his last-second, walk-off touchdown run, leading the Panthers to a 33-30 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the Hall of Fame Game Thursday night, King was the story.

As Dave Canales left his postgame press conferences, King was waiting in the wings as the game-winning quarterback. The coach hugged his passer and gave him a piece of advice before stepping to the mic: "He just told me just stay humble, or he said at least pretend to stay humble," King shared, the joke implied, because the soft-spoken Texas boy is nothing if not self-effacing. "He knows I'm going to stay humble."

His teammates and coaches knew he wasn't going to strut or boast about his night, despite going 21-of-34 for 180 yards and two touchdowns, plus another 39 yards and a score on three carries in his NFL preseason debut.

So they did it for him.

"Oh my God, he's so amazing," began Moore, gearing himself up for what promised to be quite the speech to hype up the young King.

"It's like his last name just fits him so perfectly, you know. He went out there and did exactly what we expected, what we thought was going to happen, and it was so fun to see. Out of all my 10 years, I've never seen the ending of a game like that in the preseason, and he just helped my 10th career with the greatest Hall of Fame Game maybe ever."

Granted, Moore was being slightly hyperbolic, given the situation. But it underscored the kind of impression the Georgia Tech product made in his first NFL action.

After veteran Kenny Pickett got the start and led the first three drives, Canales put in the undrafted rookie to finish off the last two-and-a-half quarters. He made an immediate impact, moving the offense downfield with quick throws, speedy huddles, and fast decisions at the line.

He threw it when he could, ran it when he had to, and began to show an understanding of the balance Canales has wanted him to find this offseason: polishing King's desire to grow as a pure passer, but still embracing his ability as a mobile quarterback when needed.

"We taught him everything he knows," exaggerated Canales with a smile.

"I was spoiled to have Russell Wilson early on in his career, and when you covered us well, he took off and ran. And that was a good thing," recalled Canales. "And then we moved the chains. When we called play actions, he was just as likely to run the ball as he was to throw the ball down the field for an explosive.

"And so there are different ways to make big plays in this game. There's no formula. We're not trying to make Haynes anything other than what he is. And so, just letting him kind of grow into that. And he's made a concerted effort to be in timing and rhythm, and you saw some of that too."

That football IQ and trajectory showed up more than ever on the final drive. A few plays before the touchdown that will go down as one of the best Hall of Fame Game moments, King and the Panthers were facing a third-and-14 on a got-to-have-it play, trailing by three.

King dropped back, looking to throw as he had the previous two plays to little avail. Everything was covered. So he did what he does best; tucked it and ran.

He sprinted through a wide open space for the first down. He had even more room to run, but he was in the middle of the field and also knew the clock was ticking down, so he made the smart play and scampered for the sidelines.

It stopped the clock and gave everyone a chance to reset.

"The bottom line is move the chains and, you know, they're playing a lot of match coverage with one backer inside," explained Canales of King's correct read of the play.

"So they kind of just drained everybody out. Typically you play a mobile quarterback like that, there's someone spying for the quarterback, and they were playing pretty much the preseason coverages. So he saw it open up. They had good coverage on it. He took the yards and kept the drive alive. So that was a really good play."

Offensive coordinator Brad Idzik made a guest appearance in King's post-game press conference to ask when the rookie put in the QB draw.

"I just didn't tell anybody," King joked. "I just told everybody to go deep and took off running. I was the only one that knew."

It worked, clearly, which is why Idzik promised they'd keep it in for the future.

Five plays later, King did it again, taking his opening into the end zone. Carolina was always going to go for it on fourth down there, as they've developed a tendency to do under Canales, but also because there is no overtime in the preseason, and Canales wasn't going to settle for a tie.

"Not, not a chance, not for a second, no ties, no overtime in the preseason," he waved off. "Four downs the whole way. Brad knew it, and that kind of is why the nature of some of the calls came out at the end there because we knew we had an extra down to play with."

And this game becoming surprisingly exciting and down to the wire is par for the course when King and Carson Beck play each other. Beck was the rookie passer for the Cardinals, but the two faced off in college in what became a historical eight-overtime game between Georgia and Georgia Tech.

"No clue at all," King answered as to why the duo can put together matchups such as these. "But he's a great player, tremendous talent, and he's played at the biggest of stages, and he's balled out, so I have a lot of respect for him as well."

In the end though, unlike in college, it was King standing in the middle of the field celebrating, his entire team mobbing him before he could even process what had just happened.

"I'll tell you what, I couldn't breathe," he laughed. "But it was amazing, just going out there and being able to celebrate with the guys that you've been OTAs, all training camp with, and busting your butt, and to finally go out there and celebrate with them and just showcase your talent is very fun."

He admitted he doesn't know what happened to the ball. But it's ok. He has the memory.