(Editor’s Note: The following column has been edited since its first publication to correctly identify the players on Lutcher High’s football team)

High school coaches and administrators here in the River Parishes like to boast a lot about their multi-sport athletes.

At schools such as Riverside Academy, St. Charles Catholic and West St. John High, where the school populations are relatively small, it’s not just normal for kids to play more than one sport, it’s practically expected of them.

It certainly is encouraged.

But, usually, these kids go from one season to the next.

They play football or volleyball, then basketball, then baseball or softball, then track.

And we are duly impressed.

At Lutcher High School, however, there are a couple of guys who are not just dual-sport athletes, they are doing two sports at one time.

Ethan and Gabriel Bland are brothers.

Alec Bland is their first cousin. Their dads are brothers.

All three are members of the Lutcher High football team — Alec is the kicker, Gabriel and Ethan play defense.

All three also are on the Lutcher swim team, which is in the middle of its season as well.

Let’s be clear: these hardy fellows get up before dawn every day and go to school like any other high school kid.

After a couple of classes, all three spend their fourth block, which is about an hour and 15 minutes, practicing with the swim team at the Gramercy pool.

Then, after school, they head out to afternoon football practice for several hours.

And they still have to find time to do homework, study and, well, have a life.

As the mom of a 15-year-old who comes home from school at 2:30 p.m. and often naps until dinnertime or beyond, I am duly impressed.

I can’t imagine how tired they must be at the end of a single day (or how hungry).

So, I just had to ask them one question: “Are you asleep by 6:05?”

They laughed at me.

“It’s tough, but we suck it up,” Gabriel said.

As if that weren’t enough, the Bland boys play their usual football games on Friday nights (last week they played on a Thursday). Like the rest of the players, they have to get up Saturday morning to go watch film.

But when that’s over, the Bland boys spend the rest of their day competing in swim meets, in multiple events.

Ethan, a senior free safety, said he has been swimming since he was 7 years old and playing football about as long.

He said the mornings after games are a little tough.

“When you’re warming up and just swimming slow and easy, it feels great,” he said. “It helps you get all the kinks out. But once you start swimming to compete, it starts to wear on you. If I could just do the warm-ups, it would be great.”

Gabriel, a sophomore linebacker, said he had to swim because, well, Ethan did.

“Once Ethan did something I had to do it too,” he said.

Alec, meanwhile, may have it the easiest. He’s the Bulldogs’ kicker, so he gets a little more rest standing on the sideline waiting to do his duties.

“I guess so,” he said, not really agreeing.

Bulldogs coach Dwain Jenkins, who is still settling in as the head coach of his alma mater after three seasons as the head coach at arch-rival St. James, is happy to have all three of them on his team.

“You would never know these guys had spent an hour swimming during the day,” he said. “That’s just the kind of guys they are. They just suck it up. They might be tired, but they’re not ever going to complain about it.

“These are the kind of kids you want your kids to grow up to be.”

Lori Lyons is the Sports Editor at L’OBSERVATEUR. She can be reached at 985-652-9545 or lori.lyons@lobservateur.com.