It’s a good thing the Greene coaching staff figured out fairly quickly that Brendan Kinne would not make a good quarterback.
Kinne, the backup quarterback his freshman year on junior varsity to teammate Scott Gorton, was switched to receiver early on that season. Since that time, Gorton and Kinne have created an undeniable connection that has paid off in touchdowns, and more importantly, victories.
Kinne, coming off a 10-touchdown season a year ago at wideout, picked up where he left off last weekend at Oxford. He hauled in three first-half scoring tosses – all from Gorton – and finished with a career-high 148 yards receiving. Gorton, for his part, surpassed his single-game career-high in passing yards finishing with 203 yards and the three aforementioned scoring tosses in a 35-0 victory.
The Trojans’ pass-and-catch combo, our area’s own version of Montana to Rice or Manning to Harrison, are on pace to shatter every local receiving and passing record. Their first-week accomplishments have earned them the distinction as the first Smith Ford LLC/Evening Sun Athletes of the Week for the 2009-2010 school year.
“They’ve been together all through high school, and they’ve been a heck of a connection,” said Greene head football coach, Tim Paske.
Not a connection, more like a partnership. “You can definitely see they have that type of special connection,” Paske added. “They have a feel for each other; it’s something special.”
Three years ago, Gorton and Kinne were freshmen on the Trojans’ junior varsity football team, and each player was trying out for the quarterback position. For Gorton, he was a natural fit well suited for the position. For Kinne, let’s just say he didn’t warm to the task. “(Brendan) couldn’t remember the plays at all,” Gorton said recalling Kinne’s attempt at playing quarterback. “He was terrible; it was painful to watch.”
“I wasn’t that good,” Kinne remembered. “The coaches thought it would be good idea to move me to receiver.”
Good idea, indeed.
Since that time, Kinne has done nothing but improve as a receiver, while Gorton continues to act as the offensive general. Kinne, a possession receiver a year ago, is now lining up all over the field to take advantage of his open-field running skills.
As for Gorton, he always knows where to find his favorite target, and when a big play is needed, he finds Kinne. “I don’t know what it is about Brendan and I, but when I throw the ball, he’s always there,” Gorton said. “Sometimes I don’t always see him, but it’s like a sixth sense.”
That intuitiveness didn’t just come overnight. It was developed in the offseason, during free time in school, and often times before and after practice. It’s a good bet that if you see Gorton throwing the ball, Kinne is probably on the other end catching it.
“We kind of just know what the other person is going to do,” Kinne said.
And when a pass play is called, you know Gorton knows what to do. “When I come to the line of scrimmage and make my reads left to right and right to left, I look back to (Brendan’s) side two or three times more,” he said. “When a big play needs to be made, he’s the guy that wants the ball, and I want to give him the ball.”
All of Greene’s opponents know that Gorton wants to get the ball to Kinne, too. So far, no one has figured out how to stop them.