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GREEN — A special connection — one involving timing, execution and trust — exists between quarterback and receiver.
But football really just scratches the surface of the relationship quarterback Trevor Van Horn and wide receiver Trey Martin share for the Green Bulldogs.
“It’s more like family,” Van Horn said.
Best friends since fifth grade, the two Bulldog seniors are three-year starters for a Green team with designs on making a big leap this season under third-year head coach Mark Geis.
“It’s kind of easy,” Van Horn said of the chemistry he shares with Martin. “We can go from off the field, being best friends, then we step on the field and we click with football as well. It’s a great feeling.”
Things certainly clicked last week during a 43-14 win at North Olmsted, which improved Green to 2-0.
Van Horn threw for 356 yards to move his career total to 3,395, breaking Ryan Gibson’s school record of 3,286. He accounted for six touchdowns, five of them passing.
All five went to Martin, who caught 11 passes overall for 245 yards. Both the touchdown receptions and reception yardage broke the single-game school records he already owned.
“It’s special because everyone says that quarterbacks and receivers have that bond,” Martin said. “But what brings us together isn’t even football. It’s just something that we enjoy together.”
Martin and Van Horn are the kind of friends who have gone on vacation together. They are quick to laugh and poke fun at each other.
When it is mentioned that Van Horn has been running the ball a little more this year, Martin chimes in, “Yeah, Lamar Jackson!”
The two didn’t play on the same youth football team until sixth grade. Before that, Van Horn still had Martin over to his team’s parties.
“I’d be the only one from the other team invited,” Martin said. “I’d be the outsider.”
It was in seventh grade when their current paths were set.
Van Horn laughs about playing guard and center his first few years of tackle football, then switching to tight end/defensive end in fifth and sixth grade. In seventh grade, he finally moved to quarterback.
Around that same time, Martin made the switch from running back to wide receiver.
“I played running back my whole life until I played for Trevor’s team, and then his stepdad (Tim Dodd) made me a receiver,” Martin said. “It turned out to be the best decision ever.”
Dodd probably knew Trey would make Trevor’s life a little easier.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Martin is an explosive athlete, the kind of kid who can get behind the secondary for a deep ball, snatch a pass high above a defender or maneuver his way through a defense off a short pass.
He’s also very much a football player, one who likes contact. The ultra-competitive Martin starts at cornerback and returns punts, one of which he brought back 81 yards for a touchdown during the
season-opening 48-6 win at Ellet.
“He’s very physical,” Geis said. “If you watch him play basketball, he gets rebounds and he’s never been afraid of diving on the floor. Rebounding has always been his thing. That kind of plays into how he plays receiver. He’s a high-point guy. He’s going to go up and get the ball. And he’s going to be very physical in how he tries to compete for a football.”
After 39 receptions for 679 yards and 15 touchdowns during an abbreviated 2020 season, Martin already is at 14 receptions for 302 yards and seven TDs this season.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Van Horn is at the controls of Green’s five-wide, empty-backfield offense. Quarterback already is a demanding position, and this scheme puts even more on Van Horn’s plate.
“I just love the fact that he wants the ball in his hands,” Geis said. “He knows in our offense he doesn’t maybe have quite as much protection as some of the other quarterbacks in our league, but he loves playing in this offense.”
Van Horn threw for 1,443 yards, 20 TDs and four interceptions last season. This season, he already is at 484 yards and eight TDs.
Geis has enjoyed watching Van Horn and Martin mature together from “young pups” on a 2-8 team as sophomores to one of the best QB-receiver duos in the area as seniors.
“Trevor used to just throw him the ball,” Geis said. “Now they know where to put a ball based on where the defender is. That’s just how they’ve grown as football players.”
The best buddies have giant numbers on their résumés and giant chips on their shoulders.
They own a grand total of zero college scholarship offers between them. Not Division I. Not Division II.
“It’s completely dumbfounding,” Geis said. “I don’t know what the reason is. Obviously, coaches like them. Some comments have been made to me, like, ‘Someone else needs to offer him before we make an offer.’ That kind of stuff doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. You watch them play and you know they can play at a high level. They have good size. Their grades are fantastic.”
Geis pauses for a moment, before adding, “They’re going to play somewhere.”
Van Horn describes it as frustrating. Martin concurs.
“We go to these camps all summer, and I’ll be lined up against receivers, and maybe they have two inches on me,” Martin said. “They say they have all these Power 5 offers, and I’m thinking, ‘I’m showing you up right now.’”
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