No commercial opportunities appear forthcoming unless CEOs for Doublemint or other products suddenly decide twins who aren’t a carbon copy in appearance are hot.
Matthew and Michael Mankoff are proof lookalikes aren’t everything.
“They come from the same gene pool, but there aren’t a lot of similarities,” Thomas Jefferson High School football coach Tim Owens said of the twins.
However, looks can be deceiving.
Michael is blond, 6-feet-2 and 180 pounds, and Matthew is darker, 6 feet and 230. But what’s a couple of inches, 50 pounds and different hair color between twin brothers?
“I kind of like it that way,” Matthew Mankoff said.
What the seniors lack in physical resemblance is covered through allied excellence in athletics, academics, character and a commitment to their excited TJ teammates, who stand 11-0 and host Douglas County in Friday Night Lights (7 p.m.) at All-City Stadium as part of Colorado’s Class 5A state quarterfinals. TJ was the most recent Denver Prep League team, in 1989, to win a big-school championship before a citywide slide began in the early 1990s and continues to spiral downward.
The Mankoff twins literally have their hands on Denver’s best hopes – Matthew is the Spartans center who snaps the ball to his brother, Michael, the quarterback.
It’s probably a good thing Owens has never seen the brothers argue. And the Mankoffs long have realized any attempts at masquerading as the other would be ludicrous.
“We could never really do that,” Michael said. “But we could always do the same activities.”
And each had a playmate who has been a constant in their lives. Into their teens, the twins are there to share responsibility, pick up each other from bad days in school and celebrate great games on the field.
Michael has a combined 18 touchdowns rushing and passing, and operates a Spartans running game that has produced upper-end victories over a powerful suburbanite such as Grandview, also a quarterfinalist; Fort Collins’ Poudre, co-Front Range champion; and rival East, which opened the playoffs by downing Aurora’s Overland, then fell to TJ in last week’s second round.
Matthew snaps the ball and blocks … with added personal incentive.
“As a lineman, you never want anybody to get to your quarterback, but it’s little bit special when your brother’s back there,” Matthew said.
The Spartans have been preaching family for a reason. “We’re always together. They’re a blast and they’re always joking around,” said Devon Fitzgerald, TJ’s top rusher (1,873 yards) and scorer (22 touchdowns).
Michael is more likely to dress up and comb his hair; Matthew will be there in a T-shirt. “Michael’s the quarterback and Matt’s the lineman, and it’s exactly like that,” Fitzgerald said.
Owens regularly sees the differences of Michael “always trying to look good” and Matthew, “It’s, like, ‘I have my sweats on today.”‘
Color the Mankoffs predictably good in the classroom, too – among TJ’s 235 seniors, Matthew ranks fourth in the class (with a 4.6 grade-point average) and Michael sixth (4.4).
“They’re great kids,” said TJ athletic director Lani Nobles.
Area attention has come from colleges in the range of Northern Colorado and Colorado Mines, and every TJ foe in recent years – the Mankoffs, part of a freshman class in 2004 that immediately drew raves from the staff, have suited varsity for four seasons.
The Spartans’ next opponent, Douglas County, is aware of what the Mankoffs bring to a determined TJ squad.
“They’re very similar in how they play, and they play very well,” Huskies coach Jeff Ketron said. “You can see they play like they love the game.”
Feeling will be required for TJ to come out on top immediately and longer term. Douglas County, the 2005 state champion, is bidding for a third consecutive trip to the final four and second finale, and the likes of defending champ Columbine and 2006 runner-up Mullen are alive in the bracketing. Plus, the city woes of lower enrollment – more than half of league members dropped to 4A – less experience gained on youth levels, smaller staffs, and a dwindling talent base have caused the DPL big problems in the big-school playoffs for big periods.
Including this year’s combined East-TJ playoff mark of 3-1, the DPL is just 9-39 since 1992. It has had one semifinalist (TJ, in 2002) since Montbello finished runner-up in 1990. Denver playoff losing streaks have totaled 15, seven and six games. All time, city schools have won only six big-school football titles – just two since 1974.
Lifelong Denver Public Schools students and proud of it, the Mankoffs crave to be part of ending dark history and beginning a much brighter trend.
They are determined to ultimately make their final TJ football team look unlike so many others in the DPL.
“It’s definitely important to us. It hasn’t been done in so many years,” Matthew said. “We think about it and we’ll try to do it for the whole city. The East kids told us to go and try win a championship for DPS.”
Michael concurred, albeit in a quarterback’s way: “We want to represent the city well. We’re aware of that history. We wouldn’t characterize ourselves as a regular city team … it’s hard to say … we’re just one of the elite programs. We’re in the final eight, so we must be doing something right.”
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
Twin towers
Senior twins Matthew and Michael Mankoff, unalike in looks but strikingly similar and strong athletically, academically and in character, hope to help the Thomas Jefferson Spartans end Denver futility in the big-school state football playoffs.
Matthew Mankoff: 6 feet, 230 pounds, brown hair, center, 4.6 grade-point average.
Michael Mankoff: 6-2, 180, blond, quarterback, 4.4 GPA.
TJ Spartans: 11-0 in 2007, champions of the Class 5A Denver Prep/Southwest League. The city’s only semifinalists since 1990 (TJ made the final four in 2002), and intent on ending Denver’s big-school championship drought (it hasn’t won a title since 1989; won by TJ) that includes a combined mark of 9-39 since 1992. TJ hosts Douglas County today at 7 p.m. at All-City Stadium in the Class 5A quarterfinals.
