By Jeff Whitten

Special to the Herald

GUYTON -- The bonds forged on high school football fields can last a lifetime.

But for South Effingham’s Moose and Bear Bringer and Kadin and Mikey Ward, the brotherhood was already there.

The Bringer brothers are starting outside linebackers and key players on the Mustang defense. Kadin Ward is South Effingham’s leading returning rusher and earned honorable mention All-Region honors last fall. His brother Mikey is a starting defensive lineman.

Having two sets of brothers play key roles is a first for SEHS Coach Loren Purvis.

 “I’ve never had that on any team I’ve been a part of,” he said. “It’s pretty cool for them when you think of the memories they get to share, and I know it’s fun for their parents.”

Like most sets of siblings, the brothers seem as different as they are alike.

Kadin Ward is a jovial 5-foot-10, 200-lb. bulldozer who wants to play college football, while the seemingly reserved Mikey is 6-2, 270 pounds and plans to go into the construction trade after high school.

“That’s when you throw the ball in the air and whoever catches it has to run to the end of the pool and back without getting tackled,” Kadin said.

The Bringers, two of Christopher and Anna Bringer’s four sons and standouts on the school’s state championship wrestling program – coached by their father, a retired soldier who is also an assistant on the football team -- got their nicknames as infants.

“When we were born, we both weighed over 10 pounds,” said Moose, a 5-10, 160-lb. senior with an affinity for science who plans to join the Army and fly Apache helicopters.  “We were big kids, so we were named after big animals. The names fit us.”

Bear, a sophomore, is considering getting into college football and wrestling after high school. At 5-foot-6 and 125 lbs., he is small for a linebacker, but already has an interception for the Mustangs.

And in each case, from Kadin to Mikey and Moose to Bear, the brotherhood is also a sibling rooting section.

“When something big happens for one of us we cheer each other on,” Bear said. “If Moose gets a tackle, I get hyped. If I get a tackle, he gets hyped.”

Moose put it like this: “It helps me play better as a returning outside linebacker, knowing he’s playing and helping him to learn the position,” he said. “We’re both hardworking kids. We both go hard and we both trust each other with all our blood and heart.”

Kadin said he wouldn't have it any other way than playing on the same team as his brother, who said much the same.

“We like seeing each other play and we like pushing each other,” Mikey said. “That’s what brothers do."