And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker.” So God made a farmer. — Paul Harvey, 1978
The farming life is the only life Trevor Thome has known. Grueling, tough, filled with highs and lows and not for the faint of heart, tending to God’s green earth and its creatures is, at the same time, an honest, fulfilling life that gets in your blood, never to leave your soul despite the hardship.
RON SCHWANE PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
Buckeye senior Trevor Thome is the 2015 Gazette MVP for football.
Now a Buckeye senior, Thome had already learned life lessons by the time he was in kindergarten most his age don’t realize until their 20s. There is never room for laziness, ego or shortcuts because farming, and in particular dairy farming, requires old-fashioned hard work to survive. The cows don’t milk themselves, the crops don’t harvest themselves and broken machinery doesn’t fix itself.
Thome’s maturity is why so many adults associated with Buckeye proudly say he’s the All-American kid. There’s never a trace of hesitation in that claim, either, because, as one his old coaches put it, “Everybody loves Trevor.”
Football is Thome’s outlet, a game he can enjoy with his closest friends and forget about the cows, forget about the chores and forget about the long hours. Playing on Edwin Steingass Field under the lights of Friday night was a euphoric feeling he will always cherish.
And my, oh my, could he play the game.
Using those lessons learned on the farm — work, pride, toughness, humbleness, initiative — the soft-spoken Thome was the emotional rock of a Bucks team that went 10-0 in the regular season and, above all else, represented York, Liverpool and Litchfield townships with class.
There may never again be a Gazette MVP like Thome, as almost all of the dairy farms that once dotted the Medina County landscape have been sold off into housing developments.
“I’ve never played with somebody who just wants it so bad,” best friend and All-Ohio quarterback Nathan Polidori said. “Everybody knows he’s grown up on a farm, and that’s the way he’s been raised. He’s got great parents (Jason and Shannon), that’s why.
“We both have that mentality that you’re going to have to drag us off the field before we’re done. Even in the West Geauga game (a triple-overtime loss in the playoffs), he was hobbling around and sticking through it for three more quarters and three more overtimes after (hurting his hip).”
Never did the 5-foot-8, 180-pound Thome consider leaving the field, often forcing his battered and bruised body to arise from the turf before trainers could reach him. He said his teammates would have done the same, but someone still had to show them that pain is temporary and glory lasts forever.
Asked what makes him that way, Thome naturally pointed toward his family’s 250-acre, 60-cow operation in York Township.
He’s been chased by a territorial 1,800-pound bull, so he’s not afraid of a blitzing 200-pound linebacker.
He’s torn clothing on barbed wire, had gloves freeze to metal barn gates, stepped into potholes hidden by manure and corralled escaped cows, so he doesn’t sweat the small stuff and, in turn, never loses his composure.
He’s survived stacking 50-pound hay bales in a 100-degree barn loft, so he’s not afraid of hard work without complaint.
He’s been driving John Deere 4440, 4430 and 4630 tractors that, even at 35 years old, are worth more than a gently used Cadillac, so he’s never been concerned with expensive, materialistic things.
Above all else, he’s been kicked by an ornery heifer, cut his hands while working on equipment and lost a finger as a toddler in a hay elevator accident, so he can tolerate pain at an extraordinary level.
“You definitely have to be a hard-working guy and a hard-working person that is capable of going through adversity,” said Thome, who expressed gratitude that his parents do almost all of the milking twice per day so that he and his younger sister Tayla have time for a relatively normal social life. “Like fixing things when they go wrong, not putting them off, that kind of stuff.
“I’d say there’s a lot of similarities (between farming and football), especially starting in the summer with two-a-days getting up early, going to two practices, going home and doing it all over again.”
When the time came to slip on his brown, white and orange No. 22 jersey, Thome was in his element.
Expectations were through the roof in August when the senior-laden Bucks hit the practice field. A third straight Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division championship was an afterthought because a 10-0 regular season and, the ultimate goal, the first playoff victory in school history were the only acceptable accomplishments.
Coach Mark Pinzone’s team was confident because they had players like Thome, whose nonexistent ego and love for his teammates were unconditional. Already the reigning PAC Offensive Player of the Year with a 280-pound bench press and 320-pound squat — numbers comparable to NFL players his size — Thome kept his eyes on doing whatever the team needed to reach those goals.
So he again took handoffs at halfback and pounded between the tackles. He again lined up in the tight slot to run jet sweeps. He again split out wide and blew by defenders for pass receptions from his boy Polidori. He again flew all over the field at safety, stopping opposing ball carriers dead in their tracks a mere nanosecond after they thought they had a breakaway touchdown.
Despite missing eight fourth quarters because of lopsided scores, Thome had 978 rushing yards, 444 receiving yards, 259 return yards and school records for touchdowns (29) and points (176). The Division III second-team All-Ohioan had six touchdowns on seven first-half touches against Fairview and averaged 10.5 yards on 160 touches for the season.
When his career ended with that epic 35-28 playoff loss to West Geauga — he had 145 yards from scrimmage, a touchdown and an interception despite the first-half hip injury — Thome became the first player in county history with 2,000 yards rushing (2,400), 1,000 yards receiving (1,304) and 300 points (336).
“It was fun,” Thome said. “It was a heckuva ride and it’s disappointing we didn’t come out on top in Week 11, but tons of memories were made and relationships that are definitely going to last a lifetime. I’m definitely glad I was able to be a part of this team.”
Thome’s next team won’t be located far from home, as the four-year starter decided being a preferred walk-on slot receiver at D-I Marshall wasn’t more appealing than being a potential starter for D-III superpower Mount Union. Neither the T’s have been crossed nor the I’s dotted, but Thome really isn’t looking at anyone else besides the Purple Raiders.
No matter how successful Thome becomes at the next level, however, he’ll always have a place in his heart for Buckeye.
“Buckeye football has definitely changed me a little bit,” he said. “It made me realize the importance of different types of things, like family.
“It was awesome. If I could go back to do it 1,000 times over again, I would.”
Why? Because the Bucks work hard, play hard and always, always, always … stick together.
Gazette MVPs
- Trevor Thome (Buc) 2015
- Steven Ficyk (Bru) 2014
- Bruce Kinsey (H) 2013
- Bruce Kinsey (H) 2012
- Jack Snowball (W) 2011
- Jason Suggs (M) 2010
- Aaron Maslowski (H) 2009
- Chris Snook (H) 2008
- Sean Bedevelsky (Bru) 2007
- Dustin Zielaskiewicz (Bru) 2006
- Anthony Lanzara (Bru) 2005
- Marko Cosic (Bru) 2004
- Paul Macko (W) 2003
- Darren Cereshko (Buc) 2002
- Mike Kudla (H) 2001
- Ben Vujas (W) 2000
- Mike Hoover (W) 1999
- Jim Lavery (M) 1998
- Dave Harris (Bru) 1997
- Dan Herbert (W) / Frank Berzansky (Bru) 1996
- Darian Miskewycz (Bru) 1995
- Demetrius Harris (Bru) 1994
- Scott Gasper (C) 1993
- Cory Carlson (C) /
- Lance Hansen (C) 1992
- James Farley (Buc) 1991
- Jason Riddle (BR) 1990
- Andy Sutandar (M) 1989
- Tom Dubs (Bru) 1988
- Todd Grabowski (Bru) 1987
- Tom Sency (M) 1986
- Dave Savick (BR) 1985
- Ron Sency (M) 1984
- Scott DeMarco (Buc) 1983
- Gary Peyton (Buc) 1982
- Lee Bullington (Bru) 1981
- Bob Gency (Bru) 1980
- Ron Brant (Buc) 1979
- Jim Reynolds (W) 1978
- Dan Gray (BR) 1977
All-Gazette Team Captains
- Scott Chrislip (C) / Jim Otanicar (W) 1972
- Richard Brown (H) / Jim Ross (C) 1971
- Al Kiene (Buc) 1970
- Gary Green (H) 1969
- Jim Ranftl (H) 1968
- Ken Luttner (H) 1967
- Paul Moore (Bru) 1966
- Larry Rohrer (C) 1965
- Tom Becker (W) 1964
- Ken Schiele (H) 1963