WINTHROP — One of the unspoken, unexplainable bonds between twins is that uncanny ability to finish each other’s sentences.

Perhaps the secret to Hunter and Travis Sherman’s success is that Travis provides the punctuation. OK, and most of the verbiage, too.

Hey, guys, is there any sibling rivalry when you walk onto the gridiron for Winthrop High School?

“On the field I guess everything gets dropped,” Travis said. “As soon as we step on there we’re just teammates. There’s not too much going on there as far as being brothers.”

“Pretty much the same,” Hunter echoed.

The way the Ramblers play defense, most Western Class C opponents probably feel like they’re part of a human cloning experiment, anyway.

Eleven quick athletes move in ball-hawking, gang-tackling tandem, allowing first downs at a more stingy clip than many teams surrender touchdowns.

Giving those same teams a real dose of double vision doesn’t hurt a bit.

Hunter Sherman starts at middle linebacker, essentially quarterback of the defense and a perfect fit for his thinking man’s persona.

Travis Sherman roams at defensive end, fittingly flying around would-be blockers and making loud declarations in the form of quarterback sacks and tackles for loss.

“Travis likes to talk a little more. Hunter‘s a little bit more quiet,” said Winthrop coach Joel Stoneton. “Travis likes to come off the edge a lot, and Hunter is a little more of a methodical thinker at middle linebacker for us. They both like to be physical.”

And they’re both part of one of the most smothering defensive units in the state, regardless of class.

Hunter invigorated Winthrop with a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown last Saturday against Maranacook. After a scoreless first quarter, the Ramblers rallied around those first points and rolled to a 40-6 victory.

“It was a pretty big play,” Hunter said. “Normally we like to be able to lean back on our defense and let our offense get the job done.”

The interception was Hunter’s second of the season. He’s been credited with 21 tackles. Travis has 17 stops, including a sack. To put those numbers in perspective, four of Winthrop’s five games have been blowouts, preventing the first string from playing a full game.

Winthrop (5-0) didn’t give up a touchdown with its starting defense on the field until last weekend, and even that was a fluky by-product of the Ramblers’ success. Maranacook recovered its own fumble and advanced it for a score.

“Defense is the best part,” said Travis.

The twins start for an explosive Winthrop offense, as well: Hunter at tight end; Travis on the line.

Each has a pivotal role in blocking for the quadruple-threat backfield of Ryan Conant, Derek Pamphrey and Eric Duplissis and quarterback Travis Luce.

Both are 6-foot-1. Travis is listed five pounds heavier at 195, but the difference is imperceptible when they’re standing side-by-side in pads. So perhaps it’s by design that Hunter (19) and Travis (75) wear drastically different numbers and don’t play the same position.

“They’re great kids. They’re fun to be around. And I haven’t been able to tell them apart until this year,” Stoneton said. “I still struggle unless they have their numbers on.”

To make matters worse for the coach, he coached the Shermans’ older brother, Tyler.

“I was calling Travis ‘Tyler’ for the first two years,” Stoneton said. “I called Hunter the wrong name too.”

The brothers were 7 years old when they first caught Winthrop football fever, watching from the stands as a team led by the late Lee St. Hilaire and current assistant coach Miah Clark won a Class C championship.

Together, they began their own career in fifth grade. Each was on the roster when Winthrop captured the Western Maine crown in 2008 and were starters for a playoff team last year.

Neither plays a position known for individual statistics.

Don’t let any of that mislead you into thinking there isn’t a healthy one-upsmanship between the two, or the occasional animated conversation.

“There can be a little bit of a competition going on sometimes. It only makes us better, I guess,” said Travis, quickly turning to the common denominator. “Senior year is always what you look forward to. It’s what’s going to stick with us, so we’re going to make it special.”

“They jaw at each other quite a bit like brothers to begin with. But there’s a lot of similarities in the way they act,” Stoneton added. “They’ve been a huge bonus on the field for us this year. Both of those guys played for us at the varsity level last year, so those are two seniors that you can say are really veterans.”

Even if one of them is more likely to say it than the other.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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