Friday Night Lights: TRIPLE KNIGHTS

It's not unusual in small towns for brothers to play on the same team or for the same school, but triplets - that's an entirely different story, one the Miller brothers, Devon, Dylan and Dane have been living for since the day they were born.

The Millers, who will be part of the first class to graduate from North Star High School this spring after attending K-12, have been a mainstay in North Star athletics the past few years. Devon and Dylan have both starred on the football field, while also participating in track and basketball. Dane, on the other hand, is limited only to basketball due to a shoulder injury that prevents him from playing football.

"Sometimes football season is kind of hard," Dane Miller said. "But I am still involved with the team and still get to be part of it. But it is tough not being able to play."

While Dane Miller is unable to play football now, it didn't stop him and his brothers from having plenty of backyard competitions when they were growing up, not only in football, but basketball as well.

"Our grandpa was big into basketball," Devon Miller said. "He played basketball at Northern and in Billings, so he was a big influence on us. I remember at one time, we had five basketball hoops at our house. We played football, too, but with three people, there was only so much we could do, mostly we would just throw it around to each other."

Now, all these years later, the Millers might soon be playing pitch and catch again, this time on a high school football field. Of course that wasn't the plan to start the season, as Devon Miller was going to play tight end and fullback and Dylan Miller was going to be back at running back. Both players earned All-Conference honors in the Six-Man North Division last season, but due to some injuries at quarterback, Dylan might soon be throwing passes to, as well as running behind, his brother.

"Devon is usually the one blocking for me," Dylan Miller said. "We have a younger team, so us and Thomas Nerat are the leaders. So that's been a lot of what we do, running the ball behind Devon because he is the biggest guy on the team. But we had an injury to our quarterback, so I am going to play there at certain times, too."

Asked if Knights fans can expect some Miller to Miller passes soon, Dylan Miller replied, "That's a definite possibility."

Sitting at 1-1 right now, the Knights, who made the Six-Man playoffs last season, have their sights set on the postseason once again. Yet, football is far from the only sport in which they play and compete together. All three play for the North Star basketball team. Devon and Dylan have also been key parts of a North Star track team that has won the District 9C track meet four years running.

However, the Miller brothers also like to take their competitive spirit to the golf course as well, where they often play together and against each other during the summer.

"It depends on the day as far as who wins," Devon Miller said, "but it definitely would be a tough choice between track and golf if we had a golf team at North Star."

"Sometimes," Dylan Miller added, "my club head goes farther than my golf ball."

When it comes to their high school football careers, Devon and Dylan have just six games left, maybe more if North Star returns to the playoffs, but either way, the end is coming soon.

"It's been nice because you always have someone to be on the team with," Devon Miller said, "but at the same time, if you miss a block or drop a pass or miss a shot playing basketball, you are going to hear about it later."

"I am gonna miss making fun of each other or critiquing each other after the games," Dane Miller added. "We always have fun conversations after games, but sometimes they don't end well, but it's all in good fun."

Regardless of what happens, there is little doubt that the Millers have made a big impact on North Star sports. And while that is satisfying to the three brothers, they will never stop raising the bar and pushing for more.

"I think for us, we always want to try and do more," Devon Miller said. "We want to win that playoff game or make it to divisionals in basketball. I think that we are satisfied with how we have helped the programs here, but at the same time, I don't think we are ever satisfied."

So even though their days of playing for the Knights will soon be over, their days of taking on each other, won't cease anytime soon.

"I don't see myself being any less active than I am right now," Devon Miller said. "I want to stay active and I think we all will. We will have to find an old-man football or basketball league or something."

As his brother's agreed with him, it became clear, no matter what the Millers do or where they go, the competitive spirit that has burned in them since a very young age, won't be extinguished, anytime soon.