Twins Rico and Val Djidotor share more than just a last name: Val, a running back, and Rico, a wide receiver, are two of the Vikings’ most dangerous playmakers. But while they are now familiar faces on the gridiron, it wasn’t long ago that they spent their time with the other kind of football.

When the two transferred from Gaithersburg two years ago, they were immediately interested in quitting soccer, the main sport of their native Togo, to play football.

“When they first got here, I saw them walking around the locker room and they said that they wanted to play football,” JV defensive coordinator Dan Wolff said. “I walked them right into the weight room.”

Varsity defensive coach Andrew Lee said that their limited proficiency in English when first moving here occasionally made it tough for them to fully understand the game.

“The first thing I thought when they came to play was, ‘Thank God for our ESOL program,’” Lee said.

Wolff, who coached Rico and Val during their JV years, said that although neither of them had any experience playing football, their fitness and athletic ability from soccer helped them excel from the start.

“Once we got them into the weight room, they made an impact immediately,” Wolff said. “Right away, their speed was fantastic, blowing everyone away, with no football background whatsoever.”

Once they learned how to run with the ball and play with equipment, they really started to dominate, Wolff added.

Although the two are nearly equal in athletic abilities, both agree that Rico is a faster runner. However, both have improved physically and mentally from last season.

“Val has made the biggest strides from last year,” Lee said. “Last season, he had a lot of trouble mentally understanding the concepts of our defense, so that was a big question coming into this season, but boy were we wrong.”

Val currently leads the team in rushing yards after the first seven games. Rico is currently second in receiving yards.

The team has a record of 5-2, with their only losses coming from county powerhouses Quince Orchard and Gaithersburg.

“They are a big part of what we are doing on both offense and defense,” varsity coach Jim Kuhn said. “I expect their roles to continue to develop throughout the remainder of the season.”