Identical in love of sports

Casa Grande football players Travis and Jacob Voight are twins, but they are certainly not identical.|

Travis and Jacob Voight are twins, but they are certainly not identical.

Physically, the just-turned 18-year-olds are similar, but certainly distinguishable. They have different interests. Jacob enjoys music and plays saxophone in the Casa Grande High School jazz and symphonic bands. Travis is a whiz at Madden Football. They do share a love of sports, but even that isn’t identical. Travis says simply, “Football is my life.” Jacob plays football, but he also is an outstanding wrestler. While Travis is planning to continue playing in college, Jacob realizes he has probably played his last football game.

The Casa Grande football roster lists Travis at 6-0, 225 and Jacob at 5-11, 215, but the discrepancies are not noticeable. Both are rock solid, the result of daily sessions in the weight room, Travis as he prepares for his college career, and Jacob as he works toward what he hopes will be a trip to the state wrestling tournament.

One obvious common trait is that they are very good football players. Jacob anchored the Casa Grande offensive line at center and was the long snapper on kicks and punts, snapping to his brother, who was the team punter. He also played some on defense. Travis played right beside his brother at guard on offense and was an outstanding linebacker on defense. Jacob reached a goal he set for himself at the start of the season by being named to the All-North Bay League second team. Travis was an All-League first-team selection on defense after leading the Gauchos in tackles and just about every other defensive category.

Travis has been contacted by a number of colleges, but is still keeping his options open. Jacob, while he would love to continue playing, says he will concentrate on academics and possibly attempt to wrestle as a walk-on.

Travis makes no secret about where his heart lies. “Every day I am doing something about football. I don’t go more than five minutes without thinking about it.”

Neither brother can envision a future without sports. Jacob plans to study kinesiology in college, with a plan to become an athletic trainer if he doesn’t go into coaching. “I want to be in sports all my life,” he says.

Travis, of course, has a more specific sport in mind. “The grand goal would be to get into the NFL some day,” he says. He will study psychology in college, and is realistic enough to know that someday football will have to end. When that happens, he plans to go into some kind of public service, perhaps criminal justice.

Both are dedicated workaholics. Travis never missed a football workout. Jacob missed just one, and that wasn’t even a real workout. Players received extra credit for helping set up for the Rivertown Revival, and since Jacob missed, Travis edged him by one workout.

Casa Grande coach Trent Herzog says it is their eagerness to work and get better that has made them good football players.

“They both have a great work ethic and love the game,” Herzog said. “They have worked themselves into being very good football players, and they are both great kids.”

While Herzog has both benefited from and enjoyed coaching both players, he acknowledges that Travis has worked his way into becoming an exceptional player.

“He’s right up there with some of the really good linebackers we’ve had here,” the coach says of Travis Voight.

Both are competitive, not only with opponents, but with one another.

“You don’t want to see your brother beat you at anything,” Travis says, voicing the feelings of both.

On the field, it’s a different story.

“We’ve always had each other’s back,” Jacob says. He says playing next to one another on the offensive line helped with the “chemistry” of the entire line.

For both, it was a wild senior season, with the Gauchos playing five games that came down to the final seconds, and winning four.

“No matter what the score, you have to keep playing,” Travis says. “Anything can happen. We sometimes got down, but we never stayed down. We never stopped playing.”

Travis played three years on the Casa Grande varsity, trending upward and culminating in his dominating senior season.

Jacob, looking forward to his first varsity season as a junior, but found his way blocked to playing time by All-Leaguer Cameron Chase. As a senior, he vowed to make the All-League team and reached that plateau by being placed on the second team.

Travis was an easy first-team choice on defense. An outstanding defender, he played fullback on offense until his junior season, when he moved onto the offensive line to benefit the team.

Jacob has been a varsity wrestler all four years at Casa, going 2-2 in the North Coast Section Wrestling Tournament for the last two years. This year, he has his sights set on the state tournament. “That would be awesome,” he says.

Two of the twins’ biggest supporters are their father, Harry, and mother, Tara. They have an older brother, Justin, who is now 32.

Both are good students. Jacob carries a 3.6 grade point average, while Travis has a 3.0.

Now, high school is almost over.

His last semester at Casa Grande High School will be a busy one for Jacob as he chases a state dream in wrestling and continues to play for the school band.

For Travis, his final semester will be centered, not surprisingly, around football. He will continue to work out, check out college opportunities and play one more time as a prep in the Tri-Counties All-Star game for graduating seniors.

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