High school football preview: Cloverleaf has different shades of Gray

Adam and Ashton Gray will acknowledge multiple greetings. There are the names written on their birth certificates, but also "Red" and "Blue." They'll even respond to the other's proper name or nickname if they're alone. The confusion comes with the territory of being twins. The Cloverleaf seniors have dealt with it their whole lives, so they simply roll with the punches. "I don't have a problem with it," Adam joked. "I just pretty much have two names: Ashton and Adam." In their youth football days, the only way to differentiate was jersey number or apparel because Ashton wore red shoes and a red mouth guard and Adam sported blue. Then-coach Lance Price picked up on the fashion and started calling them "Red" and "Blue," nicknames that have since faded but still draw smiles when brought up in conversation. While the facial features remain nearly identical, most can now tell the Grays apart when they're together. Ashton weighs in at 160 pounds and Adam 190 — at least according to the football roster — so the obvious muscle mass difference is a massive help. Some twins get annoyed when asked "What's it like being a twin?" because they don't know what it's like not to be a twin. The Grays are so laid back they chuckle. "It's like 24/7 with each other," Ashton said. "We have the same friend group, so we're always hanging out. "I push him. He pushes me. If he goes hard in practice, I've got to be better than him. We always push each other, and we're both very stubborn in that department." Despite sharing obvious similarities that include hunting turkey and deer, the Grays are much different on and off the field. Ashton is the fearless go-getter, the type of loud young man who'll climb a tree or jump off a cliff into water because someone dared him to. Adam, meanwhile, is a bit of a quiet, old soul who is scared of flying and appreciates attention to detail like the gap needed to block a defender correctly or what angle to shoot as a linebacker. That holds true between the lines. Both are aggressive and tough, but Ashton is a speedy wide receiver/hybrid safety who will scream down from the secondary in run fits and Adam is an undersized mauler who can play running back or guard on offense and rack up tackles at impressive rates, as evidenced by his Medina County-leading 115 stops as a sophomore. Ashton wears jersey No. 14 and Adam No. 48, though he was No. 79 a year ago when a rash of injuries made him the starting left guard for most of the season. The latter is happy to be back at running back, where his blocking and hard running will be put to good use in the I-formation. "(Ashton) plays crazy. He doesn't care about his body," Adam said. "I'm more technical with everything compared to him because he's just going." Cloverleaf is, without a doubt, the most experienced team in the county with eight three-year starters. Among them are the Grays, as Ashton has 585 career yards from scrimmage (360 rushing, 225 receiving), five touchdowns, 119 tackles, four interceptions and five pass breakups and Adam boasts 213 tackles (14½ for loss) that include 94 when the Colts' defense took a big step forward a year ago. Defending champion Norton, Streetsboro and Woodridge are the projected Metro Athletic Conference favorites, but Cloverleaf believes it is the darkhorse — pun intended — and has the luxury of not having to play Woodridge or newcomer Roosevelt after the league implemented an unbalanced schedule for this school year. There is one guarantee, however: The Grays will leave their hearts and souls on the FieldTurf at Gene Clark Stadium. They don't know how to play any other way. "Our expectations are how far we're going to push ourselves to be great," Ashton said. "If we push 100%, we'll have high expectations. If we don't push ourselves, we're going to maybe be mediocre as far as we want to be. It's all on ourselves." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.