Trajen Greco, Mill Creek wide receiver/defensive back
Today’s interviewee is Mill Creek wide receiver/defensive back Trajen Greco, whose team will face Buford at home tonight in an ESPN2 game. Buford is ranked No. 1 and won last year’s game. Mill Creek is No. 2 and won Class 7A last year. Both teams are undefeated. Greco is committed to Georgia Tech. He is a two-sport athlete who was the Region 7-8A boys basketball player of the year as a junior last winter.
1. What is your team’s strategy going into this game as opposed to last year? And what are your memories from last year’s game? “This year our mindsets are different knowing it’s going to be a big and packed game. Last year we kind of let all of that get to us. This year the mindset is just blocking out the noise and going out, having fun and just playing. From last year’s game, [a memory] was just being at a good game and knowing that that loss didn’t affect how our season went, and we ended up winning a state championship. So I feel like that loss benefited us last year, definitely.”
2. What are some caparisons and contrasts from last year’s team versus this year, and how does that affect your game plan? “A contrast is a new receiving corps, losing Caleb Downs and Jamal Anderson, and a new quarterback. But for comparisons, it’s the way that the people who’ve filled in those roles have stepped up this year. Definitely our quarterback [Shane Throgmartin] is stepping up really well. And with him being able to fill that big of a role going into this year, along with our new safety Demarko Lawler Jr., I feel like our defense is definitely better than last year. Our offense and run game has definitely improved with Cam Robinson in the backfield at running back, and then for our receiving corps, we have a lot of people going both ways. So I feel like that helps us a lot this year.” [Downs, the 2022 all-classification player of the year, is starting at safety at Alabama. Anderson is at Clemson. Former quarterback Hayden Clark is at Washburn University in Kansas. Cam Robinson, who rushed for 1,802 yards last season, has run for 945 yards this season, more per game than in 2022.]
3. You are also a talented basketball player. How do those skills tie into your play on the football field, and what made you choose football as your sport in college? “My skills on the basketball court transfer to football by my ball skills, just being able to see the ball and know where it is. My choice to play [football] in college happened maybe six months of me playing football [as a freshman] and then playing DB my first year last year after having a good season. Just knowing that one year can change your life is just crazy. Having to decide whether I wanted to play basketball or football in college was a hard decision, but I just knew that the experience I had last year, the fun I had and the teammates I played with just wanted me to play football and build that bond in the next level.”
4. As you’re getting set to play at Georgia Tech, are there any former or current athletes there that you look up to as a role model? “Coach [Brent] Key, with him being the head coach now and knowing that his goal and mindset is to change the program around. He’s one of the role models to me right now.” [Key was a four-year starter at Georgia Tech (1997-2000).]