Corona Centennial’s Helton twins create havoc along the line
Fifth in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, twins Wade and Brent Helton, Corona Centennial offensive linemen.
Don’t mess with the Helton twins of Corona Centennial High. They are offensive linemen who can be mean, nasty and unyielding on a football field. As long as they’re not wrestling among themselves, breaking tables or lamps at home, all is good, especially in the buffet line.
Brent is a 6-foot-5, 300-pound center/guard. Wade is a 6-5, 285-pound right tackle.
Asked why Wade is a little smaller, Brent said, “I stole his food.”
Wade, 18 minutes older, said he and his brother have been playing football for six years.
“When we were younger, a lot of coaches were calling us Twin Towers,” he said.
They have an older brother who played football at Norco, where their father also played.
As for their appetites, when their mother cooks at home, three hamburgers each is usually the minimum requirement to satisfy their hunger. As for a trip to any buffet, Brent said, “We always go back for seconds, thirds, fourths.”
As senior linemen, they had more than a dozen scholarship offers and were selling themselves as a package deal. They committed to Iowa State in June.
“We work great together. We’ve always had,” Brent said.
Each was excited about facing Santa Ana Mater Dei last season.
“It was great to play the best,” Brent said of the 43-20 loss to the Monarchs. “When you’re facing the best defensive linemen, you get to test your skills. It was awesome. I haven’t faced a bigger guy. I thought it was cool. You have to really use your technique. You can’t get away with stuff. You can’t just overpower people.”
Added Wade: “I love it when I get to face good competition. I’ve learned I’m a lot better than people think. I gave up zero sacks.”
The rematch is set for Aug. 18 at Centennial.
Centennial coach Matt Logan has always relied on his offensive line to trigger the Huskies’ explosive offense, and the Helton brothers will be important contributors to free up the skill position players to do what they do best — create havoc for defenses.
“Both are old-school tough, hard-nosed offensive linemen,” Logan said. “They love the weight room and are very strong. Both can play all three positions and have a good football IQ.”
The Southland high school football season opens Aug. 17-19 with hundreds of games across the Southland. A look at offensive linemen to watch this fall.
Wade has spent the summer improving his strength. Both can squat more than 500 pounds. Brent played the final six games last season with a broken hand that limited his lifting in the offseason as it healed. He’ll play center and guard this season.
Each has adapted to Centennial’s unusual offensive line requirements, which have players deploy wide stances and rely on athleticism and timing to take advantage of a hurry-up offense that gets ready to snap the ball as soon as a play ends. It can be a nightmare for statisticians trying to keep up but imagine the role of linemen.
“You have to be able to move,” Brent said.
Centennial continues to be the one public school year after year that tries to provide competition to Mater Dei and Bellflower St. John Bosco in what has become a Southern Section Division 1 playoff dominated by the two schools from the Trinity League.
Centennial added a top quarterback from Division 2-runnerup Inglewood, Husan Longstreet, to go with another impressive collection of receivers. But the Huskies are best when they have a productive running game, and that’s where the Helton brothers and their friends along the line must come through this season.
Here is the Los Angeles Times’ nine-part series on top returning high school football players.
Friday: King/Drew defensive lineman Chinedu Onyeagoro.
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