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For brothers Lawson and Andrew Page, chemistry on the football field was forged long before joining the Collins High School program.

There were those games in the Shelbyville neighborhood of Town and Country, where local football stars Alex Matthews and Branden Cresap were among the neighbors.

And there were those evenings at home when boredom would overcome them.

“We’d go out in the backyard and just throw the football around,” Lawson Page said. “During the summer we’d go out there for an hour every day.”

That work now is paying off for the Pages and Collins, which in its second year of existence will play in a Class 4-A semifinal on Friday. The Titans (11-2) will travel to Franklin-Simpson (12-1) for a 7 p.m. EST kickoff, with the winner advancing to the state final Dec. 3.

Lawson Page, a 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore quarterback, has passed for 1,485 yards and 23 touchdowns this season while completing 48.2 percent of his passes (92 of 191).

Andrew Page, a 6-2 195-pounder, is the Titans’ top receiver with 24 catches for 492 yards and six TDs.

Collins coach Jerry Lucas said both would have more impressive numbers were it not for an increased focus on the running game this season. Regardless, the passing combination has been a big key to the Titans’ success.

“They certainly have a feel for each other,” Lucas said.

Lawson Page is the latest in a long line of successful quarterbacks from Shelbyville, which had just one high school before the opening of Collins in 2010.

Matthews passed for more than 4,000 as a senior at Shelby County in 2007. Cresap topped 3,000 passing yards last season at Collins and started at quarterback as a freshman at Lindsey Wilson College this year.

Lucas said Page could become the top college prospect of the three.

“Lawson’s as good as any quarterback in the state, in my opinion,” Lucas said. “He has all the tools. He’s big, he’s strong, he can throw it 65 yards in the air. He just makes every throw and has a great feel for the game.”

That was evident last week, when Page’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Hinkle with 7:08 left in the game gave the Titans a 13-12 victory over Western in the Class 4-A, Region Two final.

Lawson is the youngest of four brothers in his family. Oldest brother Stewart ran track at Shelby County, and second-oldest-brother Matt is a sophomore wide receiver at Lindsey Wilson.

Their father, Frank, said Lawson’s skills can be attributed to playing against his brothers as a kid.

“He was always playing against older competition, and his brothers didn’t take it easy on him,” said Frank Page, who is an assistant boys’ basketball coach at Collins. “But they all get along and look after each other.”

Andrew Page said Lawson always had the strongest arm of the four.

“And he’s the best athlete out of the four,” Andrew Page said. “It’s hard for me to admit that, but it’s true.”

But Andrew is in that discussion, too. He also competes in basketball and track and field but looks to have a future in college football, with Murray State and Hanover among schools showing interest.

Lucas said Andrew’s future likely is on defense, where he plays end for the Titans and is among their leading tacklers.

“The kid is just aggressive, and he flies to the football,” Lucas said.

“He’s relentless. The great thing about that tenacity is that he does it on offense as well. … He’s a devastating blocker.”

If the Pages need some advice on winning a state title, they can go to their grandfather, Tom Becherer. Now Collins’ defensive coordinator, Becherer was the former head coach at Shelby County and led the Rockets to the Class 4-A title in 1987.

“That’s been one of the most fun parts, getting to play under my grandfather,” Andrew Page said. “Hopefully we can get him another (state title).”

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