LEXINGTON — Latrell Hughes beat twin brother Dantrell into the world by seven minutes.
The two have been competing against each other — and rooting for each other — ever since.
Seniors at Lexington, Latrell and Dantrell are both weighing several Division I college scholarship offers. Latrell is one of the most prized track recruits in the country, while Dantrell has college football offers from a handful of FBS programs.
They are each other’s chief rival and loudest cheerleader.
“We’ve pushed each other our entire lives,” said Latrell, the reigning Division I state champ in the 800-meter run. “It’s always been a friendly rivalry. We would do anything to make each other better.”
Young Guns
Fraternal twins Latrell and Dantrell Hughes were born seven minutes apart to parents Susan and Jermaine Hughes on Sept. 12, 2007 and have been competing side-by-side for as long as either can remember.
“We’ve played sports together all of our lives,” said Dantrell, a rangy 6-foot-2 receiver and cornerback. “It has always been fun competing with my brother.”
Jermaine Hughes could see his sons were wired differently, even at an early age.
“I know when I see talent and I knew there was something there,” said Jermaine, who played basketball at Mansfield Senior before graduating in 1995. “ The coordination and speed and aggressiveness they had was special.”
Jermaine and Susan Hughes got their sons involved in organized sports as soon as they were eligible. The twins played youth soccer and basketball through Upward Sports, the non-profit organization that partners with churches.
“They had rules where you couldn’t steal the ball and you could only play half-court defense,” Jermaine said of the twins’ introduction to basketball. “After about the third game of the season I said, ‘We can’t play like this anymore.’
“They were getting frustrated because they were so aggressive.”
It was about that time the Hughes brothers met a kindred spirit. Like Dantrell and Latrell, Brayden Fogle had a hard time dialing back his aggression.
It was the start of a lifelong friendship.
“They’ve been some of my best friends since preschool,” said Fogle, the Georgia football recruit. “We’ve grown up together.”
Despite being just second-graders, Dantrell and Latrell began playing in the Friendly House basketball league. The league is open to players in fourth, fifth and sixth grades.
“If you can make it in the Friendly House league, you can make it anywhere,” Jermaine Hughes said.
It wasn’t long before Dantrell, Latrell and Fogle began playing for the Ohio Rebels, an AAU team coach by Mansfield Senior product and Tygers’ junior varsity basketball coach John Brooks. That team included Brooks’ son, Kaylen, and Rashad Reed Jr., standouts on Senior High’s current varsity team.
“They started playing against some of the best teams in Ohio,” said Jermaine, who was an assistant coach for the Rebels. “It was fun watching that group of kids grow and develop.”
Divergent Paths
Both Dantrell and Latrell played in the Mansfield youth tackle football league, but Latrell began to gravitate toward running. He participated in a running club at Lexington’s Eastern Elementary School.
“Latrell would do both football and running club,” Jermaine said. “He would go to both practices. At the end of football practice when they would do conditioning, he was still beating everyone and that was after he had already gone to running club.
“He was a little smaller, but he was fast and he always had that endurance.”
Latrell joined Lexington’s ultra-successful cross country program in middle school. By the time he got to high school, it was clear he made the right decision. He was an Ohio Cardinal Conference first-teamer his freshman and sophomore years and was selected the OCC Runner of the Year after winning the OCC meet in 15 minutes, 21.75 seconds.
That set the stage for an unforgettable postseason last year. Latrell won the Division II district meet at Galion, took fourth at the Tiffin regional and was the Division II state runner-up in a school-record 15:13.46.
His biggest fan watched in awe.
“Him doing his own thing in cross country brought me into a whole different world of running,” Dantrell said. “He’s just naturally gifted at anything he runs really.”
His ascension didn’t happen by accident, Lex distance coaching legend Denise Benson said.
“He bought in,” Benson said after the Lex boys took runner-up honors at the Division II cross country meet last fall. “I can’t say cross country was a love of his from the start.
“He was doing it because he wasn’t playing football, but for him to buy in … kudos to Latrell.”
Meanwhile, Dantrell began drawing the interest of FBS football programs despite battling injuries during a star-crossed career. He suffered a season-ending knee injury during the preseason of his freshman year and missed the first eight games of his junior year after breaking his collarbone.
“Watching all my guys playing without me really sucked. You take for granted when you are healthy,” said Dantrell, who has offers from Louisville, Ohio University and Kent State. “When I was out it changed my mindset about playing sports. You never know when it’s going to be over.
“I always had hope that I would get back, but there were definitely times when … I was really doubting myself. I always prayed and believed I would get back.”
Seeing his younger brother battle injury has been hard for Latrell.
“It’s tough to watch him go through all of that but he has a good support system in place,” Latrell said. “He’s a strong kid. God has a different plan for him, but he’s doing good this year.”
Through the first seven games, Dantrell has 12 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns. He’s made an even bigger impact on the defensive side of the ball. The shutdown cornerback has 19 tackles and an interception.
“Dantrell is so long and he’s really cerebral. He loves knowing the game,” Lex football coach Andrew Saris said. “He’s an extremely smart football player. I believe in him when he’s matched up against anybody.”
Common Ground
While their careers have gone in different directions throughout autumn, Dantrell and Latrell have both been key pieces on Lexington’s back-to-back Ohio Cardinal Conference-championship basketball teams. The Minutemen are a combined 42-7 the past two years.
“They compete,” longtime Lex basketball coach Scott Hamilton said. “They want to outdo each other, but at the same time they are each other’s biggest supporter.
“When one of them is on the floor and the other is on the bench, they are cheering for each other.”
The two joined forces in the spring, sending the Lex boys track team to new heights. The Minutemen finished second in the Division I team standings last June.
Latrell anchored the winning 4×800 relay, teaming with Chance Basilone, Nathan Reed and Will Perkins to win in a school-record 7:37.65. Latrell then out-sprinted a loaded field in the 800 to win a state title in a school-record 1:51.00.
That set the stage for Lex’s defining moment at last year’s state tournament. The 4×400 relay team secured the runner-up team trophy by finishing second in 3:14.50 in the last event of the meet. Dantrell ran the leadoff leg and Latrell was the anchorman.
“It was amazing,” Latrell said. “To do that with my brother was a dream come true.”
Into the Unknown
Neither Dantrell nor Latrell has made a decision about their college destinations. They are both considering their options even as more major programs come calling — Latrell is being courted by the Oregon track team.
“I went to visit Virginia Tech a while ago,” said Latrell, who followed last spring’s state championship in the 800 with a fifth-place finish and All-American honors at the New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia in June. “I’ll go to Nebraska soon and Oregon and Texas A&M in November.”
Their parents understand what the upcoming decisions could mean.
“That’s the big talk in our house right now. Our kids could end up on opposite sides of the country,” Jermaine said. “I told my wife, ‘We could have one on each coast.’ ”
If that happens, Dantrell and Latrell will still be each other’s biggest fan.
“He’s amazing,” Dantrell said of his brother. “I’m not the most emotional guy, but he knows I’m supportive of him.”
The feeling was mutual.
“It’s always good to see Dantrell compete,” Latrell said. “And who knows? Maybe we could end up at the same school.
“If there’s a place we both like and the opportunity presents itself, I’m sure we’d think about it.”