Sitting on their couch in the living room, Cole and Drake Davis did what all brother do: They were arguing about race cars.
The brothers went back and forth about how fast cars go, whether it would be cool to have a sport where all you did was crash into everyone else and whether you should drive the speed limit.
Drake insisted he could make another car flip over and over and he would be just fine. Cole calmly pointed out if he made one car flip, he would make his car flip too.
And that kicked off a series of yups and nopes and outrageous hypotheticals.
The fun exchange is but a mere glimpse into the relationship between Cole and Drake who are 10 years apart.
The brothers share a bond between video games, sports and just being boys.
But for the friendly debating and playing Grand Theft Auto together (when their mom lets them) and all the other shenanigans they get into, there was not better moment of their bond as brothers than what happened Nov. 17.
Cole is the runningback on the Live Oak football team and had just scored the go-ahead touchdown with a minute left to play in the game against Sacred Heart Cathedral.
He came to the bench and took a sit to catch his breath and soak in the moment.
When a familiar set of little arms wrapped themselves around him.
It was Drake celebrating a big touchdown with his big brother. And the moment was caught on video during the broadcast of the game on the NFHS Network’s feed.
“He just came up to me and gave me a big old hug. He didn’t saying thing. There was really nothing that needed to be said,” Cole said.
Drake said he was proud of his brother and he knew they were going to win.
“I was just going crazy,” Drake said.
Drake this year acted as the ball boy for the Acorns this season, getting to run the sidelines and watch his brother take the field each week.
“It was a lot of fun. Sometimes we had to remind him to stay focused because he gets a little playful on the sidelines,” Cole said.
The Davis’ mom Kathleen had helped with the football team and Live Oak athletics in general because her two daughters also play sports for Live Oak.
Fittingly all three high school children played during the fall.
“It’s been great,” Cole said. “Everyone has been involved with everybody’s sport and has been so supportive. And that brings in outside people who have been supportive as well. That forms a bond that you just can’t explain.”
Their mom makes sure she helps out as much as she can to the point of some late nights.
“Sometimes she’ll go to sleep and get up with my jersey still on,” Cole said. “She runs the snack shack and all that good stuff. She’s a huge fan.”
So Drake got a chance to help with football. His price for admission were his lucky skittles that he had to share with coach Mike Gemo.
“Gemo said they were lucky,” Drake said.
Usually just one, but Drake said he let Gemo have more.
Drake could be seen tossing the ball to himself and running back and forth along the sidelines having a bit of fun before he got to run onto the field to hand the ball to the referees.
“The best part was when we won the last game,” Drake said.
And the subject of referees sparked another friendly debate among brothers. Drake said he didn’t want referees at the games. Cole gently reminded him that you needed refs to have a real game. But Drake was not convinced.
Drake plays flag football now and is usually the runningback.
He said he wants to play the position just like his brother. With Cole being a senior, the duo is going to get split up at the end of the school year. Cole said he isn’t sure yet where he’s going to college, but is hoping for the chance to play.
While Cole might be looking at Southern California or possibly Oregon, Drake is making the case for a local school so he can still see his brother as often as possible.
Cole is one of four children, with two sisters who are both close to his age. He said he had wished for a brother and was excited when Drake came around.
“When he came around, it was just awesome. It’s been boats loads of fun,” Cole said. “But because I’m that much older, it just feels like I’m a big brother.”
“And bossy,” Drake chimed in. But Drake added that his brother is pretty nice to him.
