Brothers in Arms Are Foothill’s Best Asset : Football: Sean Miller’s father married Ethan Taub’s mother, and now the family that plays together wins together.

TUSTIN —  They were brothers by nature even before they were brothers by law.

Sean Miller and Ethan Taub, the odd couple of the Foothill High School football team, were running around together before their parents were married. They are old friends, who became related.

It’s your typical case of “opposites attract.”

Miller, a senior, is a laid-back cornerback who takes pride in denying yardage. He’s a detail kind of guy who gets out of bed at the first sound of the alarm clock.

Taub, a junior, is an outgoing running back who finally got going after a slow start. He does everything aggressively and depends on Miller to wake him up in the morning.

“Ethan is more assertive and Sean just lets things happen,” said Judy Miller, mother of Ethan and stepmother of Sean. “They are so different.”

Yet they have one big thing in common: Football.

Miller and Taub are two big reasons that Foothill is where it is today. After three consecutive losing seasons, the Knights are back in the playoffs, and will face Santa Margarita tonight in a Southern Section quarterfinal game.

“They kind of represent what our team is about,” Coach Tom Meiss said. “We have 22 guys who just do their job.”

Taub and Miller did theirs rather well last week in helping the Knights rally from a 21-0 deficit against Riverside Poly. They came back for a 23-21 upset over the third-seeded Bears.

Taub gave the offense a kick-start in the second quarter and finished with 152 yards rushing, his third consecutive 100-yard game. Meanwhile, Miller went mano a mano with the Bears’ top receiver and denied him any receptions.

“Sean’s one of our best-kept secrets,” Meiss said. “He just keeps people from catching passes.

“Ethan has started to run with his eyes open the last couple of games. He’s extremely quick. We felt before the season he was going to be the guy. Now he’s playing that way. They’re both really quality kids.”

As always, different yet the same. Separate, but equal.

Miller and Taub grew up in the same neighbor and became friends fast. When Judy Taub and Steve Miller married in 1982, the two sons became even closer.

In fact, they take credit for bringing their parents together.

“Yeah, they met through us,” Taub said.

Said Miller: “Ethan and I were the first to meet. I remember hanging around with him longer than I can remember.”

Judy Miller laughed at the match-making claim.

“If they want to think that, that’s fine,” she said. “They have been friends a long, long time. They were friends in the world before they were brothers.”

It was Taub, in fact, who got Miller into football.

Taub started in youth leagues when he was in the sixth grade. The next year, he persuaded his stepbrother to play.

“Ethan looked like he was having so much fun out there, I had to join in,” Miller said.

Said Taub: “I had to beg him to play. He was a little apprehensive, but I knew he would be good at it.”

The two were separated only once. As a sophomore, Miller went to live with his mother, a law student in Roseville, near Sacramento. Sean returned the next year because he missed his friends, especially his stepbrother.

The two were reunited on a Foothill team that finished 2-7-1. The Knights rebounded this season under Meiss, the team’s first-year coach.

Miller has been a cornerstone of the defense this season. He has only one interception, but no receiver has caught a pass against him or in his area since the fifth game of the season.

“We play a lot of different defenses this season,” Miller said. “We disguise what we’re doing really well. But basically, I just try to take the receiver out of his pass route.”

Miller has contributed in other ways, too.

He blocked a punt against Villa Park and teammate John Bain returned it for a touchdown to cut the Spartans’ lead to 24-18. The Knights won, 25-24, which started a three-game winning streak that propelled them into the playoffs.

“That was the biggest play all season,” Taub said. “We have done everything right since Sean blocked that punt.”

Taub certainly has.

The week after the Villa Park victory, he gained 102 yards rushing in a 35-12 victory over Canyon. The next game, he had 117 yards in a 27-6 victory over Santa Ana Valley that clinched a playoff berth.

“I was a fullback last year and I was still running like one earlier,” Taub said. “I’d put my head down rather than look for the hole. Now, Coach Meiss has me looking where I’m going.”

Taub has 651 yards rushing and has caught 19 passes for 166 yards. He also has five touchdowns.

“I’m always the first to congratulate him when he scores because I’m on the PAT team,” Miller said. “I run out there and give him a hug.”

Such is the relationship between brothers. Especially those who felt they were related even before it was official.

“We’ve always done everything together,” Taub said. “It’s great to come home and your best friend is there.”