Friday Features: MC Football Seeing Double with Band of Brothers
By Chris Megginson
It’s not uncommon to have former teammates transition to college together, or occasionally have a pair of brothers appear on the same college football roster. However, the Mississippi College Choctaws will be twinning this spring with three sets of twin brothers on their spring roster.
“A lot of times you want your team to develop a brotherhood, and that sometimes takes work. Well, this right here does not take a whole lot of work, because it is real,” said MC Head Coach
John Bland.
This offseason, Bland and his coaching staff brought in two sets of identical twins to Clinton, Mississippi,
Detric and Derric Hawtorn from Jones County Junior College and
Cole and Turner Rotenberry from Northwest Mississippi Community College, after reuniting returning Choctaw wide receiver
Ja’Moz Mark with his fraternal twin,
Ja’Mori Mark, from East Mississippi Community College.
“This is the first time I’ve seen something like this,” Cole Rotenberry said.
Cole and Turner, who share most facial features, but different hair styles, admit they both sound and talk alike, especially dishing out smack talk. Detric and Derric are like looking in the mirror.
“It’s hard to distinguish between those two,” Bland said.
The Marks, who look nothing alike, say they look forward to having teammates who share the same twin bond they share.
“They know what it’s like,” Ja’Moz said. “You can see how twins relate to each other and how close they are … It starts a good brotherhood. The other players can see how close we are and we can all come together as one.”
The Marks brothers help connect the trio of twins on the field. While at Tylertown High School, Ja’Moz and Ja’Mori played together against the Hawthorns at Collins High School, and then Ja’Mori played against both incoming sets of twins twice during the 2017 season at East Mississippi, including back-to-back playoff wins en route to the NJCAA national championship.
Ja’Mori collected 80 yards of combined offense, including a 40-yard touchdown catch in a regular season game against the Rotenberrys and Northwest Mississippi CC. He finished the year with 545 total yards of offense and five TDs, while helping East Mississippi to an 11-1 season.
The Rotenberrys helped South Panola High School in Batesville, Mississippi to an 11-1 season and Class 6A, Region title in 2015 after winning the 2014 Class 6A state title. At Northwest, they led the Rangers to a combined 17-6 during their two seasons with Cole, a receiver, leading the team in punt returns and Turner, a safety, returning kickoffs and forcing five turnovers on defense in 2017. They say playing opposite sides of the ball has helped them develop.
“(Turner’s) going to talk a little junk now and then, and sometimes I get him on the route,” Cole said. “He teaches me footwork and things I need to look for when I run my route.”
The Hawthorns come to MC after helping Jones County to an 8-2 record in 2017. Detric split time with Chris Weaver at quarterback for all 10 games, throwing for 724 yards and six TDs and rushing for 394 yards and five TDs. On the opposite side of the ball at defensive back, Derric was Jones County’s second-leading tackler with 59, including a team-best 19 assisted tackles. MC was one of only three schools to both offer the brothers the chance to continue their playing career together.
“I think this is a great opportunity,” Derric said. “Us playing on both sides of the ball makes it more fun, because we can try to tell each other how to fix our flaws.”
While the Hawthorn and Rotenberry twins were battling it out against Ja’Mori’s team in the NJCAA postseason, Ja’Moz appeared in seven games at Mississippi College with 230 yards of offense and two touchdowns. He said the year playing solo, without his twin, was a transition, and he’s glad “it’s back to normal.”
“We have a bond on the field. We know if we’re doing to right thing. We push each other and know if we’re doing right or wrong,” Ja’Moz said.
That bond is something each set of twins embodies, and something Coach Bland hopes to build on.
“You can see each of them working for each other and taking care of each other and that’s the type of thing we want on our team. That’s something our team can learn from. We’re excited about that,” Bland said.
The message of brotherhood is one each set of twins relates to, and one the Rotenberrys attempt to drive home.
“The way we play on the field shows everyone else on the field that these guys love each other and they’re willing to play their hearts out for the team and help our teammates out in anyway that’s positive,” Turner Rotenberry said. “If you stay positive and do it with each other, then we can win.”
That’s exactly what Bland hopes to see, as he looks to put a 1-9 transition year record behind him.
“As the weeks and months go by and we get closer and closer to football season, we’ll see that these guys are winners and leaders and they’re going to be a big part of our success,” Bland said.
He added that if the brotherly bond on the team forms the way he expects it will, then MC may have to “recruit the nation for twins.”
Follow Megginson on Twitter @jcmeggs. Email comments to megginsonjc@gmail.com.
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2017-18 Friday Features Archive
September 1 |
Mississippi College
September 8 |
Montevallo
September 15 |
Valdosta State
September 22 |
West Georgia
September 29 |
Alabama Huntsville
October 6 |
Union
October 13 |
West Alabama
October 20 |
West Florida
October 27 |
Delta State
November 3 |
Christian Brothers
November 10 |
Shorter
November 17 |
North Alabama
November 24 |
Lee
December 1 |
AUM
December 8 |
West Florida
Decemeber 15 |
Mississippi College
December 22 |
Lee
December 29 |
West Alabama
January 5 |
Valdosta State
January 12 |
Christian Brothers
January 19 |
Montevallo