Washington (Iowa) football fans seeing double

WASHINGTON, Iowa - It's unique to have one set of twins playing together, but the Washington (Iowa) football team has taken uniqueness to the next level.

Sitting in the stands, the average fan would not know there are four sets of twins playing for the Demons.

There are seniors Matt and Jake Reighard, juniors Sean and Thomas Zimmer and Collin and Tanner Murphy, and sophomores Walker and Garrett Ikerd.

Some twins see their sibling as competition, others aren't bothered at all by having a twin on the team.

'We are always competing even when we don't want to,” Matt Reighard said.

Reighard also said he has never had to battle for a position with his brother. Usually, Matt and Jake are on opposite sides of the field. One of them plays left outside linebacker and the other plays right outside linebacker.

The Zimmer twins have a similar situation. Sean likes having his twin on the football team. They have a connection and they can tell when each of them is having a good game. In fact, Sean and Thomas look so alike, they could play each other's position and nobody would know.

While the Zimmers and Reighards enjoy having their twin on the team, the Ikerds don't think about their twin as a brother on the team.

'It's just like having someone else on your team,” Garrett said.

Collin Murphy feels the same way.

'(Tanner) has always been on my team, and on the field I think of him as a teammate, not a brother,” he said.

Some might wonder if having a twin on the football team would motivate them on the field. In some cases, that might be the case, but each set of twins for the Demons said 'no.”

'Since we play a different position, Thomas does not motivate me,” Sean Zimmer said.

On a football team everyone motivates each other in a different way. Teammates who play the same position usually motivate each other the most.

These four sets of twins prove they don't rely on each other. They have grown into their own person. They are independent of each other, but are connected on a certain level, which leads to the uniqueness of twinning on the Demon sidelines.