Lanes attain rare honor off gridiron

Kyle and Sean Lane have a few things in common.

They both graduated from Porterville High where they anchored the trenches on the Panthers’ football squad and wrestled for coach Tim Vanni.

They are currently listed on College of the Sequoias’ football roster, but in the interest of upcoming Latter-Day Saint missions, they are both gray-shirting.

Both have aspirations to play football at the D-I level.

And, not least of all, they are identical down to every last hair.

The 6-foot, 225-pound twins certainly did their share on the field. As seniors they were part of an O-line that helped to break the school rushing record in just eight games while rotating through four different running backs.

“I think we had the best line in the league that year but our record didn’t show it,” said Sean of his Panthers team that went 2-8 in 2007.

Sean played center for the Panthers and Kyle manned left tackle, but both will likely change spots down the line for the Giants when they return from their two-year sabbaticals in 2011.

But, lately, it’s what the twins have accomplished off the field that’s been grabbing attention from the community. And on Sunday, the Lane brothers were each given the Eagle Scout Award for their hard work in 10 years of scouting.

“They provided examples, leadership and maturity,” said Tim Suorsa, a scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and family friend of several years. “They really exemplify what boy scouts are about.”

Considering that just two percent of the country’s 85 million scouts attain the program’s highest honor, the Lanes can certainly say they’re in rarefied air.

“It feels great,” Kyle said after receiving the award, a long time coming since they completed their Eagle projects last summer. “It was one of the hardest things we’ve ever done.”

Kyle contributed 150 hours of labor, furnishing bear cages in Camp Wilderness, transporting two trips of 800 pounds of metal 45 minutes each way. The camp had trouble keeping bears out of trash cans, so Kyle seized the opportunity for service.

“Bear-proof trash cans are really expensive individually,” said Kyle, who is looking at studying graphic design. “We couldn’t have a lot of people up there because of the danger in welding, so we’d be there until midnight. It was a lot of menial work.”

Sean’s contribution was a new flag pole to the Porterville Air Attack Base near the airport.

“The old flag pole was 20 feet tall, so when it was at half-mast, the California flag was on the ground,” said Sean, who coincidentally hopes to study aviation or computer science after his mission.

Sean had help from the base’s employees in laying down a new cement foundation with a new, 40-foot pole. Little did he know that would end up becoming a hindrance toward attaining the Eagle Award.

“The (BSA) board of review said I needed to use two or more scouts to help me out,” Sean said. “But I went back and did the research. I only need to use two or more individuals.”

The board of review’s final interview was also the most challenging hurdle for Kyle, who earned 26 merit badges along the way.

“They really grilled us,” Kyle said. “I was in there for an hour and a half. I didn’t have my world emblem badge on and they said,’Do you really think you can be an Eagle Scout if you don’t have that badge on your uniform?”

Perhaps Kyle’s answer to the panel is what the Lane brothers — as Panthers, Giants, leaders in the community and soon to be badge-wearing missionaries — are all about.

“I told them, ‘Yes, it’s not all about the uniform,’” Kyle said. “It’s about what you do in that uniform.”