Wimmer brothers trying to get Hollis Brookline football back to postseason and beyond

Quinten Wimmer was going to say something that he knew would not make his twin brother, Sander, happy.

When asked how one of them ended up as a quarterback and the other ended up playing receiver, Quinten smiled and looked across the practice field at his brother, and recalled when the two of them played flag football.

"He’s going to yell at me, but I was always a smidge faster," Quinten said. "And then he started throwing the ball more and I started catching it, and it morphed into a thing. In flag football, we needed a quarterback and he was like ‘I’ll do it.’"

But even before that, the games of catch began off the football field, and both Wimmers were able to hold their own.

"We always played in the backyard and I knew I could throw pretty well," Sander said. "He knew he had good hands. It just worked out, (but) he can throw just as far as I can and I can catch just as good as he can. We both started when I think we were seven or eight years old. Football has kind of been our life for a while."

That journey reaches the end of a chapter this fall, as Quinten and Sander enter their senior seasons for the Hollis Brookline High School football team. Starting for the Cavaliers in their final year of high school football is something they both envisioned, but the path it took to get here wasn't expected.

Entering sophomore year, Quinten was going to make his first varsity start at receiver in HB's opener at Windham. But with senior quarterback Joey Delaney returning, Cavs coach Chris Lones planned to use Sander at some point during the game, also as a receiver.

"I was getting some reps at receiver," Sander said. "I think the coaches wanted to use my height and my hand-eye coordination."

That plan - not only for that game, but the entire season - changed before many of the HB fans and parents had a chance to settle in for the game.

On HB's second possession, Delaney scrambled and was taken down, landing awkwardly on his shoulder.

"The (seventh) play of the game, Joey was done (for the season)," Lones said. "We gave Sander a lot of reps during the preseason that year. We felt he knew enough to be able to go in, but we knew he wasn’t going to be able to use the entire field.

"The question is, when you walk out there that first time, how are you going to respond to it all. Knowing and doing are two different things."

The Cavs ended up losing that game 49-18, but after a rough first half, Sander bounced back to finish with 173 yards passing and three total touchdowns, two of which came through the air in the fourth quarter.

"It was a complete shock," Quinten said of seeing his brother forced in at quarterback. "We had been through middle school ball, but obviously, there’s a huge difference between middle school and high school. There’s bigger kids, faster kids.

"It was comforting that Sander was out there, but it was horrible that our quarterback got injured. Once the first ball is snapped, the nerves are gone and you get into the zone."

That zone is a place the brothers have gone to often, whether it's on the football field, or one of the other sports they've played together. Both played lacrosse when they were freshmen, but the next year, Sander decided to make the switch in the spring to volleyball, and last year, Quinten followed.

This year, they're both planning to play basketball and volleyball together after the football season is done.

"We’ve been playing (sports) together since we were little," Sander said. "I always feel like I know where he’s going to be and how far to throw it, but he’ll sometimes surprise me with a diving catch or something.

"It is very intense, but I think that just helps us to be greater. We’re pushing each other to our limits and it helps us perform to the best of our abilities."

As seniors, that's meant stepping up into a leadership role that comes not only with their positions, but with their experience.

"Sander and I are trying to be team leaders," Quinten said. "We’re always on each other. It builds chemistry. It’s just been fun trying new things. In practices, we’re not the most talkative, but when it comes to games, we’re loud and competitive as you can get. We’ll fire up everyone."

Lones is excited to see what the pair can do once the games start, now that they've had another offseason to prepare. Last year, both received Division II All-Conference honors, with Quinten making the first team as a wide receiver and Sander being selected as the second-team quarterback.

"Sander sees everything now," Lones said. "He has full control of the entire offensive playbook. There’s almost nothing that (offensive coordinator) Shawn (Aubut) throws at him that he doesn’t get. I don’t think there’s a wrinkle that he doesn’t know and isn’t confident doing.

"(Quinten) has the ability to get out of the ground to go get the ball. It’s almost not fair because he’s such a good route runner and you can put (the ball) anywhere you want and he’s going to go get it. That’s just made him so much better. Now that he understands that, for a receiver, when to sit, when to go, when to be there or here, that’s been the growing part for him."

And it doesn't have to stop at the end of this season. Both Sander and Quinten have hopes of not only playing at the next level, but of playing somewhere together.

"We’re going to try to go as a packaged deal," Sander said. "If he has a better college situation than I do, I wouldn’t want to hold him back. And I’d go do mine. But hopefully it doesn’t come to that."