POCATELLO – Maurice Sowell doesn’t keep much of his memorabilia lying around the house. There’s no mantle littered with old trophies, no bulletin boards with a collage of newspaper clippings, no reminders scattered around to act as self-serving conversation starters.

Despite that, eventually, the questions came. He knew they would. His sons began asking about the posts Maurice was being tagged in on social media. The pictures and anecdotes that popped up drew inquiries from his two young sons. And, so, he budged. He pulled out the old boxes, blew off the dust and shared the tale of his former life.

“You could see the glimmer in their eye,” Maurice Sowell said. “It was a sense of pride or being proud of their dad.”

Jovan and Jonah Sowell, Maurice’s fraternal twin sons, received a crash-course on their father’s football career.

They heard about his prowess as a receiver and returner for Lincoln High School in San Diego — the alma mater of NFL Hall of Famer Marcus Allen — that earned him All-CIF honors in the mid-1980s. About his scholarship to nearby San Diego State and the dazzling potential he showed there. And about his final two years at North Carolina A&T, where a coaching change led him to give up the game after his junior year.

“I’ve never had a kid that could do so many things so well,” Lincoln coach Ray Hooper told the Los Angeles Times in 1984. “He’s the most versatile athlete I’ve coached.”

That’s one of the newspaper clips Maurice tried to shield from his sons. He tried to keep his mantles clear and his personal anecdotes light because he always wanted Jovan and Jonah to know that they were their own individuals. That they needed to find their own individual passions.

Perhaps it was genetics. Maybe osmosis. Regardless, Maurice’s love of football trickled to his sons.

Jovan picked up the game first. Jonah saw all the fun his brother was having on the youth level and decided to give it a try as well. Fast forward more than a half-decade and the Sowell twins star on a Century Diamondbacks squad that’s again heading to the state playoffs as 4A District 5 champions. Century, the No. 3 overall seed in 4A, hosts Lakeland on Friday, hoping to take the next step after a first-round exit last year.

If the Diamondbacks manage that, the Sowells will be a big reason why.

Jovan is a 5-foot-8, 160-pound wide receiver and defensive back. Last week, he sealed Century’s district-clinching victory over Pocatello with a fourth-quarter interception.

But the five colleges — Idaho State included — that have offered him a scholarship envision Jovan as a wideout, a position where he’s followed up a first-team all-state season last year with 47 catches for almost 600 yards and five touchdowns this season.

At 5-foot-11, Jonah has a few inches on his twin brother but hasn’t seen the same bevy of college interest. As one of the Diamondbacks’ starting cornerbacks, Jonah Sowell has defended a team-high six passes, brought down two interceptions, forced and recovered a pair of fumbles and tallied 32 tackles.

“Jonah is a bit of a hidden gem because cornerbacks don’t often get a lot of accolades. We call him a lockdown corner and he doesn’t get a lot of balls thrown on him, but he has a number of picks when they do,” Century coach Travis Hobson said. “Jovan is incredibly quick. I don’t know how many players I’ve coached that have been as explosive athletically as Jovan … He starts and stops incredibly fast, that’s his bread and butter.”

That dichotomy of talent lends itself to differing answers in all sorts of areas. Like about their dad’s football history.

Did that bring on pressure?

“Oh yeah, I (felt pressure) when I was younger,” Jonah blurted out.

“Not me personally,” Jovan replied. “I just go out and do my thing.”

Maurice Sowell sees a lot of himself in Jovan. Both receivers. Both fast-twitch speedsters who can make explosive plays. Both runners who avoid defenders like a bad meal. Jonah, Maurice said, has similar aggressiveness on the gridiron as he did — which was more than needed.

Jonah’s development and skills didn’t sprout up in the way Jovan’s did. He wasn’t as naturally-gifted athletically as his brother, didn’t take to the intricacies of the sport in the same rapid manner — which made it less of a surprise when Jovan has pulled up to varsity a year ahead of his twin.

“That was a little interesting, but I was still proud of him,” Jonah said. “I was like, ‘I just have to get ready for next year.’”

Added Maurice: “Jovan was normally out in the forefront just because he was pretty good. And Jonah was his biggest fan. He just enjoyed the fact that his brother was doing as well as he was. That just speaks of his character.”

For a parent, there’s a certain struggle in that. Two twin boys not on the same level. One on varsity. On on J.V. One pulling in DI offers. One hoping to notch his first. One feeling no pressure in their family football legacy. One thinking about not living up to it.

An ordained minister, Maurice was a former reverend at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Pocatello, and he’s leaned on the church’s teachings to find peace in the uncertain futures of his sons.

“It’s that foundation, it’s just that part of life that both my wife and myself have instilled in them,” Maurice said. “There has to be an acknowledgment of that relationship on a daily basis in order to be successful and to be able to deal with the highs and lows of life.”

Maurice has talked with his boys about what their next chapter will bring. He’s tried to get them ready for the next few months of their lives, when it’ll be time to pick a college and likely pack up, leaving the other for the first time in their lives.

“I tell him (my dad) that I really want to compete against my brother in college, rather than play with him,” Jovan Sowell said. “But it would be really nice to play with Jonah in college.”