Mayflower High School junior Deon Simmons said he and his identical twin brother, Keon, started tossing a football back and forth when they were 2 years old.
“We were just born to play football,” Deon said.
That’s pretty obvious by their success on the field. Deon was named the River Valley & Ozark Edition Offensive Player of the Year.
“I think he deserves it,” Keon said of his brother’s honor. Deon is a running back; Keon is a wide receiver.
The 16-year-olds are standouts for the Mayflower Eagles. Deon led all rushers in the state in all classifications with 2,562 yards. He also scored 43 touchdowns — just two short of the state record.
His former coach, Todd Langrell, started on Monday as coach of the Class 5A Vilonia Eagles.
Langrell said Simmons’ touchdown statistic “is remarkable.”
“He could have [broken the record], but we took him out of about half the games because we led, … just so the score wasn’t run up,” Langrell said.
Deon said it doesn’t bother him that he didn’t exceed 45 touchdowns.
“I’m just happy to get 43; I’m not worried about running up the score or whatever,” he said.
The 11-1 Eagles, undefeated in the conference, won the 3A-2 title. The 10-0 record in the regular season was a first in Mayflower’s history, Langrell said. The Eagles lost 41-14 to the Rivercrest Colts, who won the state championship.
Deon said the game that stood out to him was against Barton because he had 5 touchdowns on the way to a 55-36 win.
Another good memory, he said, is the homecoming game against Cedar Ridge, where he ran for about 330 yards.
He is humble, yet honest, about his strengths. No. 1, he can run the ball. He blows past defenders on the field game after game.
“I’ve got good vision; I’m fast, strong,” Deon said.
He’s also 5-6, 155 pounds. Instead of excelling in spite of his size, Deon thinks his size is an advantage.
“I can fit through little holes,” Deon said.
Langrell agreed with Deon.
“I’ve had people say, ‘If [the Simmons twins] were 6-1, they’d be D-1 players,” Langrell said. “But they couldn’t do what they do. They’re very quick, very agile; they’re fast.”
There are plenty of reasons other coaches and players talk about “the twins” on the Mayflower team.
“There’s so much,” Langrell said, laughing. “It’s not just on the field; it’s off the field. I can’t speak highly of them enough. They’re always in a good mood; they never have a bad practice. They’re always encouragers; they work so hard trying to get better. When the best players work that hard, it’s easy for others to follow.
“It’s uncanny what a good work ethic they have.”
Deon said he and his brother, who is about a minute older than him, practice longer hours than required.
“After practice, Keon and I do a little extra work. We either stay 30 minutes or an hour, or longer and do speed ladder or agility [drills]. We run bleachers; we jump bleachers. We do all that,” Deon said.
“We motivate each other,” Keon said. “If he’s doing something wrong, I tell him to keep on going and work harder.”
Keon said his favorite memory from the season is the Smackover game, where he scored 6 touchdowns, including the winning touchdown in the game.
Deon is a well-rounded athlete. He’s played basketball and run track in the past, and he is on the track team again this year. He runs the 4x100 meter relay and the 100 dash and participates in high jump.
Despite pushing his body to its limits, Deon said, he has been hurt only once — when he got bruised ribs after taking a helmet to his side while running with the ball through a hole.
“I stay away from getting hurt; I don’t put myself in a position to get hurt,” Deon said.
“He’s got an uncanny ability not to get hit very hard,” Langrell said.
Deon and Keon, sons of Chastity Jackson of Mayflower and Steven Simmons of Maumelle, were in pre-K in Maumelle before transferring to the Mayflower School District for kindergarten and first grade. Deon said his family moved back to Maumelle until 10th grade, when they returned to Mayflower.
The brothers, who will turn 17 on March 23, will be back on the field in the fall as seniors. Deon has definite goals for his season.
“I want to stay the No. 1 running back in Arkansas,” Deon said. “I want the team to go very far. I want to talk state; I want to have an undefeated season.”
Deon credits his coach with much of the team’s success, too.
“He seems like he really cares about his team: he’s a great coach,” Deon said. “He likes to motivate us all the time. He pushes us every day, on and off the field. He makes sure we keep our grades up.”
Deon doesn’t disappoint — he has a 4.0 grade-point average.
His goal is to play at the college level.
“I’m thinking of Arkansas because I’ve liked Arkansas since I was little, the Razorbacks,” he said. Keon said he wants to attend the same college as his brother.
Then their dream is to join their favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.