Two for the Show : Twins Craig and Chad Scott Give Canyon a Potent Combination on Offense

A couple of years ago, the passing combination of Adam Hoover to Greg Jacobs at Canyon was one of the best in school history. Hoover passed for nearly 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns, and Jacobs set a single-season school record with 65 receptions.

This season, the Comanches have another potentially potent combination. Quarterback Craig Scott and wide receiver Chad Scott are not only brothers, they are identical twins.

Well, almost identical. Chad, the oldest by two minutes, tends to be reserved. Craig is more robust. Chad likes rock ‘n’ roll; Chad leans more toward country.

But football has become a way for the senior twins to speak as a single voice. They have helped Canyon, which plays Corona del Mar (2-0) tonight, get off to a 2-0 start. Last week in the 10-7 victory over Brea Olinda, Craig threw the winning touchdown pass to Chad by using a secret signal.

“On the touchdown [play], the coaches gave me the option of how to throw the pass,” Craig said. “The pass pattern was to be a fade into the corner of the end zone, but I told Chad if they were in a different defense I’d signal him to change to a slant. When I got to the line of scrimmage and saw the defense, I gave him the signal.”

Chad, who caught eight of his 13 passes (for 171 yards and three touchdowns) last week against Brea Olinda, calls this chance to play with his brother “a dream.” He was not a varsity starter last season, catching only two passes. “But the first one was a touchdown against Orange,” he said.

Craig was the starting quarterback last year, replacing Hoover, who graduated. Although his numbers were respectable--1,091 yards and 10 touchdowns--both he and Canyon struggled with a new offense.

“We had changed the offense from the run-and-shoot to a pro set,” said Craig, reflecting on Canyon’s 6-5-1 season that ended with a first-round playoff loss to Western. “I had a lot of expectations. It took most of the season to get used to it.”

This season Craig--who credits Hoover with “teaching me the position”--is 21 of 40 for 259 yards and three touchdowns (with no interceptions). He has become so important to Canyon’s offense that the coaches will not allow him to play defense. “If he gets hurt we’re in real trouble,” Coach Bob Hughes said.

Chad--who calls Jacobs “a mentor”--has no such restrictions. Good thing, because he has three interceptions as a defensive back, which ties him for the county lead.

The boys are similar in size--Chad is 6-1 and 170 pounds; Craig is 6-1 1/2 and 165--but with maturity, they are starting to develop differences in their appearance.

At birth, the Scotts looked so much alike the family did not remove the hospital wristbands with the boys’ names on them for a year so they could tell them apart. “They were the same size and weight, their heads measured exactly the same length and they had no birthmarks,” Julie, their mother, said.

“When I look at some of those baby pictures, I can’t tell us apart,” said Chad, who keeps a couple photos in his wallet.

Their father, Steve, said he and Julie tried to make sure their sons, now 17, would develop their own identities.

For example, Steve said, as young children their clothing was similar but not identical. “If Craig had a blue shirt,” Steve said, “Chad wore red.” They also tried to give them separate rooms for a while until the boys moved back in with each other.

“As they grew up they developed a real closeness,” Steve said. The boys agreed.

“We do ‘feel’ things, like when [Chad] likes someone, I’ll know it immediately. But some of that is because we are best friends,” Craig said. “We may argue sometimes as brothers do, but we are best friends.”

They decided they wanted to play football at a young age, but Steve said he objected because of their slight builds. Finally he gave them permission to play Pop Warner football when they reached the eighth grade.

Though the Scotts haven’t played the game very long, the Canyon coaches talk at length about their “football sense” and the connection they have on the field.

“Craig throws the ball better to Chad than the other receivers, but he’s used to him,” said Craig Nance, who shares the offensive coordinator duties with Don Douglass.

“One of the hard things for quarterbacks is if you have a system like we do where you use many receivers; throwing to so many different guys can break a quarterback’s rhythm. But he knows Chad, especially when it comes to timing patterns.”

Craig tries to avoid showing any favoritism toward Chad during the games. Against Brea Olinda, Nance said the coaches had to tell Craig to throw to Chad more.

The brothers said they would like to continue playing football in college. Craig said he has received “a couple of letters,” while Chad has not yet heard from a school.

Do they have any colleges in mind?

“My dream is to go to USC,” Craig said.

“I like UCLA,” Chad responded.

Spoken like true, almost identical twins.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

CANYON VS. CORONA DEL MAR

Featured Game

When: 7:30 tonight.

Where: Newport Harbor High.

Records: Canyon 2-0, Corona del Mar 2-0.

Rankings: Neither team is ranked.

Noteworthy: Canyon won its games with guile as well as talent, but the Comanches could be caught short-handed again tonight. Wide receiver/running back Matt Franco could miss his second consecutive game because of a knee injury. Corona del Mar has outscored opponents 78-20 in its two victories. Running back Tom O’Meara averages 7.6 yards per carry and has three touchdowns.