By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
WILLIAMSTON — It must be a frightening experience to play quarterback against the Williamston football team.
The Tigers are known for their aggressive, blitzing style of play and come after the quarterback with the ferocity of their mascot name.
Williamston likes to smash signal callers with a defense that hits so hard it will leave a quarterback feeling like he is seeing double.
However, the reality is a lot more frightening than the fiction. The QB is not seeing double. There really are two of them, and they will be coming after him on every snap.
Williamston’s defense is spearheaded by its linebacker tandem of identical twin brothers DeBriant and DeBrian Everett.
While DeBrian may have been born a minute or so before DeBriant, they both have a knack for getting to the quarterback at the same time.
Undersized for their position, the twins stand at roughly 5’5”, but they make up for their lack of stature with an oversized heart and desire to be the best football players they can be.
Think of a can of Red Bull. While its small, it’s strong enough to get the job done.
Scratch that.
Think of can of Red Bull that’s been shaken up, then put in a paint mixer for about a half an hour only to be opened up and released upon an opposing offense.
Hayes said it’s their drive the propels the twins to be the most exciting pair of linebackers in the area.
Last week that assignment was Creswell quarterback Shavon Spear, and the twins got to him all night.
As the third-seeded Tigers (9-5) battled No. 2 Creswell in the third round of the NCHSAA 1-A playoffs, DeBriant and DeBrian harassed the Creswell QB and were the driving forced that stalled a potent Creswell attack in Williamston’s 40-6 win to advance to the state semifinals.
Not surprisingly, his brother agreed.
The twins have been on the Tigers’ varsity team for four years, and Williamston’s third-year coach Asim McGill has watched his dynamic duo make the progression from raw athletes to heads up football players.
The twins look identical, but that’s not where the similarities end. Both play the same position, and both like to walk up to the line of scrimmage and rush through would-be blockers for four quarters.
To the average fan it might look like the duo do nothing but blitz on every snap, but McGill said that what the twins bring to the table is much more than a ferocious pass rush.
McGill said it’s been his pleasure to coach the twins for the last three years, and that their character is just as impressive as their play on the field.
Both DeBriant and DeBrian plan on extending their football careers past high school, and would love to continue playing side by side at the next level.