Cody Holliday and Tony Negrete were best friends before they became step-brothers, and they agree on lots of things. Somerville's quarterback and linebacker both say their family ties came together fairly easily. Both believe they can count on the other.

However, they do have a difference of opinion on which one had the edge when they bumped heads back in pee wee football.

"I got the best of him," said Negrete, who made all-state at linebacker last season.

"Oh, no," said Holliday, the Yeguas' starting quarterback. "He couldn't get me in pee wee. I was too fast for him."

Negrete and Holliday almost never compete against each other in football these days, because Somerville's top offense and defense rarely square off in practice. They both play basketball -- don't get Holliday started on who owns that matchup -- and they both pitch for the baseball team.

Then there are the occasional battles in the yard pitching horseshoes.

"He wins some and I win some," Holliday said.

Any brush-back throws?

"Not unless I get mad and make it look like an accident," Holliday said.

Negrete was in the third grade when his mother died. A couple of years later, Negrete's father married Holliday's mother.

"We were about 9 or 10 when my mom and his dad got married," Holliday said. "We adjusted pretty quick, because he was my best friend before that. The first house I ever stayed over at when we were little was his."

Going into their senior seasons, Negrete and Holliday figure to make life more comfortable around the home of Somerville coach Larry Cone. Negrete delivered 121 tackles last year, including nine behind the line of scrimmage, with two fumble recoveries and one interception. Negrete played most of last season with a broken bone in his hand. He also broke his hand as a freshman and sophomore.

"Last year he would go get his hand put in a cast on Friday morning, play that night and break the cast, then go back in Saturday morning to get it cut off and have a new cast put on," Cone said. "He'd break it during the week and start the whole thing again on Friday.

"I told the coaches when Tony was a freshman that we were running the option and pitching to a one-armed man."

Holliday had a big season at quarterback last year, producing 26 touchdowns by passing for 1,763 yards and rushing for 1,571.

"I'm not sure exactly what it is that makes him special," Cone said. "One thing is he practices hard. He's one of the best athletes we've got, but he never takes a day off. He always works.

"He's got an unbelievably great sense of humor. He has fun at everything he does. He's always got a big old smile on his face."

Holliday is Somerville's 3-point shooting specialist in basketball and he runs anchor on a couple of relay teams in track. His step-brother also gives Holliday high marks away from the field, court and track.

"He's a good player and a good brother, too," Negrete said.

The admiration is mutual.

"He's the one I can trust," Holliday said.