Doug Carroll
The Arizona Republic
Eighteen years ago, they entered the world one minute apart.
Even now, only 5 pounds separate fraternal twins Kyle and Bobby Ellsworth. That, plus the 3,½-mile stretch of Arizona Avenue that runs between Chandler and Hamilton high schools.
Kyle is a senior at Chandler High, Bobby a senior at Hamilton. Tonight, their respective schools square off in the regular-season football finale for both teams. A large crowd is expected at Hamilton for the kickoff at 7.
The boys live with their parents, Chris and Cindy Ellsworth, within Chandler High’s boundaries. They attended school together until three years ago.
As eighth-graders at Willis Junior High, Bobby received an award from the principal but was congratulated mistakenly as Kyle.
“That was sort of the clincher for me, “Cindy said. “If they were going to strive to achieve, then they should be rewarded in their own right.”
Bobby had been pushing for a boundary exception to attend Hamilton, where his girlfriend and some other friends were going. The relationship with the girlfriend didn’t last, but everything else has worked out – for both brothers.
“We get along better, “Kyle said. “We were always in competition at the same school. We don’t see each other as much, but it’s probably for the better.”
Each is the captain of his school’s wrestling team. Kyle competes at 140 pounds, Bobby at 135. Because they are in different weight classes, there is little chance they will meet head-to-head this coming season.
“I don’t want that, “said Cindy, fearing that one might keep the other from reaching the state finals.
Neither plays football anymore. But Kyle, who took second place in the state pole vault last spring, played on the last Chandler High football team to defeat Hamilton at any level (freshman, junior varsity or varsity). Chandler’s freshmen won 40-6 in 2002.
It has been all Hamilton ever since.
“When it comes to football, I don’t wager, “said Kyle, expecting Hamilton’s dominance to continue tonight as the undefeated, No. 1-ranked Huskies prepare to make a run at a third consecutive Class 5A state championship.
The twins aren’t above a little good-natured trash talk, although their mother says it never gets mean-spirited.
“Hamilton is a prison, from the way it looks, “said Kyle, a third-generation CHS student. “You’re stuck in an enclosed box. Usually at Chandler, we don’t even say the name. We just say ‘the school down south.’ ”
Bobby isn’t even sure he’ll be at the big game.
“The only games I go to are the playoffs, because I know we’ll win the others, “he said, calling Chandler a “non-rival other than in basketball.”
The twins agree that Basha – the third high school in the Chandler Unified School District – doesn’t rate for hate just yet.
Basha competes in a different region from Chandler and Hamilton, it’s much farther away and it’s still the new kid on the block, having opened in 2002-03.
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