Jacob Luthi is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chandler High School for AZPreps365.com 

From an early age the love of competition, and especially football, was ingrained into twin brothers Daunte and Donnovan Hamblin. It was this love that influenced their decision to move to Chandler, Arizona. 

“On the way down to Arizona we didn't even know which school we were going to go to,” Daunte said. “We got to about Palm Springs and we literally stopped at a rest stop and I was like ‘Mom, we are going to Chandler.’”  

Having watched YouTube videos of the school’s football program, Daunte, a cornerback and back up running back, and Donnovan, a strong safety and outside linebacker, wanted to be a part of a winning culture. 

The Hamblin twins convinced their mom, Chelsea Hamblin, to settle the family down in the new city in the summer of 2019. 

“Football has been literally their life,” Chelsea said. “I mean, they started playing in the fourth grade, then they picked up baseball and wrestling in the meantime just to keep busy, but their focus was always football.” 

With this thought in mind, Chelsea agreed to move her sons to the area she thought they would not only be further challenged in the sport they loved, but also be surrounded by people willing to accept them for who they were.

Originally from Montesano, Washington, the Hamblin twins have been competing on the same team in sports their entire lives. Some battles, however, the family had to face outside of the playing field. 

Having experienced hardship in a city that was unwelcome to those they viewed as “outsiders”, Chelsea felt the need to move to a city that would give her sons a chance to succeed in the ways she knew they could. 

“I mean, they were getting torn down not only by students, but by school administration, by the police department, by teachers,” Chelsea said. “It got really hard, and so there was a point where people were driving by and spitting on them. And so me and my husband made the decision that we're gonna sell our house, and we're just gonna leave.” 

During this time, the Hamblin twins faced verbal and physical threats which forced them to have each others’ backs on and off the field. 

“They tried to push us out as far as they could,'' Daunte said. “Everyone basically just ganged up on us and it got so bad we just had to go.”

Things were getting worse in Washington and the Hamblin family quickly packed a U-Haul truck and left for a new start in Arizona. 

Without a house to move into upon arrival, the family booked themselves into a hotel room. 

Three days later, the boys had to attend their first day of freshman year at Chandler High School - a school whose student body population is almost equal to that of the whole town they drove from. 

In addition, conditioning practice for the football team started under the 110 degree desert sun that same day. 

Young Hamblin twins smile for a photo in their football uniforms. (Photo courtesy of Chelsea Hamblin)

“They hit the ground running,” Chelsea said. “They started school the same day they started football practice, and they didn’t gripe about it. I thought for sure I was going to have to teach them about heat exhaustion and stuff, but they hit the ground running and they made a name for themselves immediately.”

They were also able to make new friends quite quickly. 

“At first it's kind of tough because anybody who comes from out of state doesn't know anyone,” Vincent Buckles, Chandler senior wide receiver said. “They trusted the process and hung out with all of us. We are like a brotherhood and once you come you are family, so they adjusted well.”  

In addition to their athletic gifts, Chandler has also been a school that has allowed the twins to excel scholastically. 

“I have pounded that into them since day one,” Chelsea said. “That it's great to be a really good athlete, but it's even better to be an A plus student and a great athlete. I've never, not one time, had an issue with their grades. They're phenomenal students.” 

On the football field, the Hamblin twins have been forced to improve their game given Chandler’s high standard of football, but that has not been an issue whatsoever. 

It is the relentless, physical nature of football that fuels the twins’ desire to hit harder, think smarter and above all do whatever it takes to secure a win for the team. 

Where Donnovan has seen the playing field slow down for him, making it easier to read plays and make tackles, Daunte believes he has become a smarter player and has been able to read defenses better while at running back. 

Their coaches too, including linebackers coach Dubois Gilliam have not only seen their improvements first hand, but their complementary style of play as well. 

“They are very in tune with one another,” Gilliam said. “They ping off each other. They could be on opposite sides of the field and they both could say the same thing at the same time. Literally.” 

In many ways their playing style complements each other and the two always seem to be in sync. 

While on defense in football, a simple nod or smile would be enough to relay information from one brother to the other. 

“If we are on the same side, I'm telling you, the ball is not going over there,” Donnovan said, explaining the cohesion he and his brother have on defense. “When I look at him before the play starts, he already knows what I am going to do.” 

Now, into their senior year at Chandler, this may be the last time the Hamblin twins get to play together. 

Due to a fractured rib injury sustained during a game against Casteel High School in early October, Daunte had been forced to watch his brother play and practice without him. 

This was unfamiliar territory for the Hamblin twins. Despite trials and setbacks, the two could always rely on being on the field together at the same time.

Going into the second round of the 2022 AIA State Football Championship, Daunte is healthy and playing again.

In the first playoff game against Centennial, both brothers made an impact defensively. 

Donnovan had one of his best games of the year, recording 10 total tackles,  2 ½ sacks and 3 ½ tackles for losses according to MaxPreps.

After being called up to play varsity in the playoffs during his JV season, Donnovan was able to win a championship ring with the Wolves. It wasn’t the same, however, without his brother there to revel in victory as well. 

“It’s still a ring, but I didn’t win it with him,” Donnovan said. “ I didn’t really like that.”  

Though it has been years since their move from Washington, Chelsea is still enamored with the way her boys refused to allow the hate from the past affect their genuinely kind and positive personalities. 

“You just have these two kids that have faced so much adversity, have overcome everything and are so forgiving,” Chelsea said. “They're all around great kids, and I'm super proud of them.” 

With nothing less than winning a championship for Chandler being the goal for both Donnovan and Daunte, their setbacks as well as the noise from those in their past only fuels their will to succeed even more. 

“Right before we left everyone was like ‘Go ahead and leave. You'll never play and we'll be watching you on TV on the sidelines,’” Donnovan said. “But now, now we just had an ESPN game and they're watching us play and it feels good.”