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It was a frequent occurrence, both Dante and Darius Stills aligned alongside throughout their overlapping career at Fairmont Senior.

The major college duo was a rare find for an FSHS program that had produced a handful of West Virginia players in the past - fellow defensive lineman Calvin Turner among them - but seldom had two Power Five prospects on the same team, let alone within the same position unit. When both signed with the Mountaineers, that rarity increased even more.

Sure, there have been brother combinations at West Virginia before. Ron and Dale Wolfley, Nate and Shawn Terry, Patrick and Coley White, Michael and Brenden Ferns. There were a trio of siblings in Kevin, Ka'Raun and Kyzir White. But none were in-state products, and none came with the legacy of Darius and Dante, whose father Gary was a rush linebacker at WVU from 1996-98, amassing 26 total sacks - including 3.5 in one game against Marshall.

Of now, Darius is running with the first team at nose tackle, while Dante, roughly a year younger, is a second-team tackle behind Reese Donahue. Both figure to see significant action in the fall, and could well end up starting beside each other at some point over the coming two seasons.

"It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, honestly," Darius Stills said. "Not many people around the country do this at all. I told Dante when I was a freshman, ‘You have to trust the process.’ Once you trust the process, everything will work out on its own. I told him, ‘Coming from being the star on your team and coming to college is a reality check.’ You don’t know what’s going to happen. My dad always told me to trust the process and everything will work out for you."

It happened quickly for Darius, who was expected to redshirt as a freshman but played eight games. The elder Stills logged a dozen games played as a sophomore last season, with 12 tackles, 3.5 for loss. Dante, a four-star recruit who was rated the seventh-best defensive tackle in the nation in his class of 2018, also played in 12 games a year ago, tallying 16 tackles, 6.5 for loss.

"It’s exciting, because going into my freshman year, I felt like I was by myself," Darius said. "Now, I have another one of me up here, so it’s fun. When me and Dante are on the field something magic is going to happen."

That's was the case a handful of times last year, when the Mountaineers started 7-1 before stumbling to an 8-4 finish that saw not only three consecutive losses to end the season, but also a third straight bowl defeat that put the capper on the 2-5 postseason record during the eight-year WVU career of Dana Holgorsen.

His departure heralded the tenure of new head coach Neal Brown, and ushered in a much-needed freshness embraced by the vast majority of players. Perhaps the biggest of privileges went to the defensive line, which saw its three-man front morph into potentially four while simultaneously being unsaddled of the need to purely eat up blockers. These horses have been turned loose both by coordinator Vic Koenning and position coach Jordan Lesley.

The idea? Make plays. Don't just fit and fill gaps. Exploit them. Attack, attack, attack. Disrupt the backfield, the pocket, create havoc via harassment. It seems a natural fit, for that is what former coordinator Steve Dunlap did with Darius and Dante's father, Gary, in the late 90s. With excellent burst and a quick-twitch body, Stills slid into the rush linebacker position vacated by WVU career sack leader Canute Curtis and wrecked opposing offenses. His 26 sack total is still, more than 20 years later, second to Curtis' 35.

"Since Dante’s here, we push each other to limits I didn’t even think I could go," Darius said. "Competing with him in the winter time, it makes you realize how far you can push yourself when you’re past being tired. But on the field, we push each other a lot. I get on him about stuff; he’ll get on me about stuff. It’s a mutual thing.

"I like making plays. It’s fun. It’s a very big difference (in scheme because) when you’re in a zero you’re basically mirroring the center. But when you’re in a one you can go straight ahead instead of moving horizontal. You don’t have that triple team. I haven’t been triple teamed this whole spring and in the zero I’d be triple team’d every other play."

That's it in a nutshell. Line 'em up and let them make plays.

"If I'm having a bad day Darius picks me up," Dante said.

It's freedom within a designed concept, and one which could resemble anything from a 3-4 to the 4-2-5 look the Mountaineers want to eventually adopt in its entirety.

The primary need? More defensive linemen. While the Stills' pipeline is tapped out, West Virginia has offers on the table to dozens of D-linemen for the 2020 class - though few have the heartstring tugs of Darius or Dante.

"I knew this was the place I wanted to be," Darius said. "Being from West Virginia, 15 to 20 minutes away and having the opportunity to play here, I enjoy the family aspect a lot. Without family I wouldn’t be here. I'm just trying to make a name for myself. I feel like I've done pretty well, but it’s a learning process."

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