Twins Add Double Dose of Speed to Valencia : Football: The Alexanders, slotback Korey and wide receiver Kevin, are helping the unbeaten Tigers average 33 points a game.

Marshall Alexander, no slouch when it comes to sprinting, used to enjoy racing against his twin sons, Korey and Kevin.

A hurdler and sprinter at Southern (La.) University in the early 1970s, Marshall usually dusted his sons during family footraces.

At least until the boys were freshmen at Valencia High School.

“I beat them by a hair that time,” Marshall said.

That’s when Dad retired as the family’s fastest.

“They want to get me out there again with them,” Marshall said, “but I’m going to save myself the embarrassment.”

Marshall learned long ago what Valencia football opponents are figuring out this season. Try to keep up with the Alexander twins, and you’ll wind up trying to tackle a vapor trail.

The Alexanders are standout track and basketball players, and they play key roles in a football offense that’s averaging 33 points per game.

Kevin, a senior wide receiver and cornerback, has caught 19 passes for 338 yards and has scored five touchdowns.

Korey, a senior slotback and cornerback, has rushed for 333 yards and seven touchdowns in 35 carries. He also has 17 receptions for 315 yards and four touchdowns.

Each has two interceptions, and both return kickoffs and punts.

The Alexanders’ statistics are impressive, especially when you consider that the Valencia starters get little playing time in the second half. The Tigers have shut out four opponents, and their average margin of victory is 27.

The games are usually over by halftime. In a 41-0 victory over Magnolia two weeks ago, Korey scored first-quarter touchdowns on a 36-yard reception and on runs of 25 and 11 yards.

“I hadn’t even touched the ball yet, and we were already ahead, 21-0,” Kevin said. “(Running back) Ryan Roskelly looked over at me, and we wondered if we were even going to get to play anymore.”

That likely won’t be the case tonight, when the Tigers (7-0, 2-0 in league), ranked third in Orange County, play at eighth-ranked Brea-Olinda (6-1, 1-1) in an Orange League game. Brea rallied from a 14-point deficit last year to beat Valencia, 23-21, ending the Tigers’ seven-year reign as league champions.

“The frustrating thing about the Brea game was that we slacked off, and we thought we had it won with the lead,” Korey said. “Brea still had life.”

There’s no doubt the Brea defenders will be seeing double when they face the Alexanders. In turn, the Alexanders will face some double-coverage.

Coaches and teammates have no problem telling the 17-year-old identical twins apart--Korey wears No. 21 and Kevin 81. But off the field, it’s a different story.

Both are 5 feet 10, but Korey is six pounds heavier at 175. Both wear feather-duster mustaches. Both have 2.5 grade-point averages. Both are being recruited by colleges, with the most interest coming from Fresno State.

“And they both enjoy talking about how fast they are,” Marshall said.

Teachers often get the twins confused. They have four of their six classes together this semester.

Have they ever switched places in class?

“No way,” Kevin said. “Our dad wouldn’t be too pleased with that.”

But the twins did fool their grandparents once. They switched clothes, then giggled when they were called by the wrong names.

“I think it’s easier to tell us apart once you get to know us,” Kevin said. “You can tell by our personalities.”

There are differences. Kevin’s more outgoing. Korey fidgets. But both are naturally inquisitive.

When they were young, they “were always getting into mischief,” Marshall said.

“One night they got up and wanted to see what would happen if they filled the bathtub all the way up,” Marshall said. “They were about 3 or 4 years old, and didn’t know any better. They flooded the entire upstairs, there was water everywhere. They were always inquisitive.”

The Alexanders channeled that curiosity into sports. One day, they brought their father into the front yard to show them new “tricks” they had learned.

“They had taught themselves how to tumble,” Marshall said. “They started doing back flips, all kinds of things.”

The Alexanders didn’t play tackle football until their freshman year at Valencia. They played basketball and baseball when they were in elementary school, then flag football in junior high.

“We didn’t like flag football,” Korey said. “We wanted to play tackle when we were in seventh grade, like the junior highs back in Houston.

“Flag football wasn’t much fun. Guys would cheat and tie their flags in knots so you couldn’t pull them off.”

The twins were born in Baton Rouge, La. Korey is older by a few minutes.

They moved to Houston when they were 4, and to Placentia five years ago, when their father accepted a job as a district sales manager with a pharmaceutical company.

Their parents are divorced; their mother, Loretta, lives in Compton. The twins live with Marshall and step mom, Sharon, the team’s most vocal supporter.

“One of the parents videotapes our games, and you can hear Sharon yelling over everyone else,” Kevin said.

Among their other supporters are sisters LaQuinta, a 6-foot-2 freshman basketball player at Valencia and Desiree, 6, and brother Nathan, 7.

Now that their father is out of the running, Korey and Kevin have been battling for the title of fastest in the family.

Most often, it’s Korey, whose 4.3-second time in the 40-yard dash is about a tenth of a second faster than his brother’s.

They’re side-by-side during the track season, Korey winning the Orange League 100-meter title and Kevin finishing a close second.

“Usually we tie when we race between ourselves,” Kevin said. “It depends who’s better prepared to run. Korey wasn’t ready during a meet at Western, and I smoked him.”

They also ran legs on the school’s 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams that set school records. Their 1,600 team had the county’s fastest time (3:17.84) and finished sixth at the state meet.

On the football field, the Alexanders are part of one of the fastest teams in the county along with quarterback Marc O’Brien and tailbacks Roskelly and Willie Barnes. Korey has bragging rights as fastest on the team, beating Barnes in a footrace last spring.

“Willie had been doing a lot of talking about how he was the fastest,” Kevin said. “Then Korey beat him.”

The brothers say the friendly rivalry between them adds extra motivation come kickoff.

“Kevin had three touchdowns right at the start of the season,” Korey said. “And I only had one. Everyone was dogging me that he was beating me.”

Added Kevin: “We don’t get the attitude that we’re going to go out each day and beat each other in a race. It just gives us something to go home and talk about.”