Trey Fairchild played quarterback since he was in the fourth grade, including his first two years of high school. During his sophomore year, Fairchild threw an interception that would change his football future, leading him to Syracuse not at quarterback but as a wide receiver.

After throwing the interception, Fairchild hunted down the defensive back and made the tackle. In the process of hitting the defensive back, Fairchild knocked the ball loose and a Dublin Coffman (Ohio) High School teammate recovered.

While the quarterback made a spectacular play to force the fumble, Fairchild suffered a torn labrum in the process and would need surgery. It seemed like bad news at the time.

But combined with the surgery on his shoulder and depth at the quarterback position, Fairchild and the coaching staff made the decision to move him from quarterback to wide receiver.

‘It was kind of my decision,’ Fairchild said. ‘I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted. I wanted to get on the field anyway I could and help the team.’

Fairchild verbally committed to the Orange on June 4 after receiving offers from Boston College, Duke, Maryland, Northwestern and Ball State.

With a fully healed shoulder, Fairchild had to learn how to play the wide receiver position if he truly wanted to help the team. During the summer, he went to three Mid-American Conference school camps to work on route running. He also worked out with former Ohio State standout and Buffalo Bill Reggie Germany.

Germany played four years for the Buckeyes, accumulating 1,286 yards receiving yards on 80 receptions and scored six times. In 2000, he was drafted in the seventh round by the Buffalo Bills. He spent two years with the Bills and is now out of football but still helps out athletes like Fairchild.

Germany realized as early as the first day that Fairchild was born to play the wide receiver position.

‘From the beginning, I saw he had natural ability,’ Germany said. ‘He’s a natural athlete. It’s hard to teach people certain movements at the wide receiver position. It comes to him naturally.’

Syracuse came naturally, too. Fairchild was recruited by defensive coordinator Steve Russ, and after visiting SU, the choice was easy.

‘He seemed real personal,’ Fairchild said of Russ. ‘He really cared about his player. It didn’t seem like a business but more of like a friend.’

Before Syracuse entered the picture, Fairchild said there’s was some interest from both Florida and Ohio State, but only because he knows contacts at each school. He traded a few text messages with Buckeyes officials, but since giving a verbal commitment to SU, that interest has slowed.

Germany has tried to teach some of the finer points of being a wide receiver to the converted quarterback. Fairchild said his time under center has helped because he already knew all the plays and where the receivers where supposed to be.

Knowing the routes and where to be is one thing, but having the intangibles to play wide receiver is another.

‘Me, being a former wide receiver, seeing things that are hard to teach, you have it or you don’t,’ Germany said. ‘Trey has it. His explosion off the ball, I haven’t seen that in many high school athletes period.’

Head football coach of the Shamrocks, Mark Crabtree, also had a feeling Fairchild had ‘it,’ but he didn’t think Fairchild would translate the skills into production on the field as fast as he did.

‘As a junior, we had to get him on the field for more time, so we moved him to slot receiver,’ Crabtree said. ‘It was an easier transition than anyone anticipated. It’s harder than people think.’

Crabtree also credits some of the success to the speed and elusiveness of Fairchild, who has been timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.4 seconds. But unofficially, he has been much faster.

‘People don’t give him enough credit for his speed,’ Germany said. ‘He’s a 4.3 guy. I was a 4.2-4.3 guy, but I’m worried he might break my record.’

Fairchild may not beat 4.2 seconds in the 40, but he seems poised to surpass Germany’s college receiving numbers in his two years of high school play. As a junior, Fairchild caught 51 passes for 766 yards and six touchdowns. He also ran for 280 yards with three touchdowns.

This season, Fairchild picked up where he left off. Dublin Coffman beat Troy in its first game of the year, 56-14, and Fairchild caught seven passes for 198 yards. Two of the seven receptions were touchdowns. In total, Fairchild found the endzone four times, adding two rushing touchdowns to his receiving scores.

‘The quarterback got me the ball,’ Fairchild said, modestly. ‘He’s got an unbelievable arm. He put the ball where it needed to be.’

Actually, Fairchild should have had a fifth score, but officials ruled he fumbled the ball as he caught a Hail Mary pass and spiked it.

So much for the modesty.

‘The referees ruled it a fumble,’ Fairchild said. ‘It definitely wasn’t a fumble.

Even so, it looks as if Fairchild’s senior season is only going to improve the former quarterback’s standing.

Said Fairchild: ‘(It was) definitely one of my better games.’

Published on August 29, 2007 at 12:00 pm