These UW football recruits are 2 of the best in WA. They're also best friends.

SPANAWAY, Wash.

A heavy fog, verging on mist, tumbles through the sky as the future of Washington's defense shakes hands at Art Crate Field.

It's Oct.

4, only 52 degrees outside but the swirling winds around the stadium make it feel much colder.

Fans are bundled in multiple jackets and sit on blankets to avoid direct contact with the metal bleachers.

It's truly a classic Pacific Northwest Friday night under the lights.

Bethel High School has just beaten its cross-city rival Spanaway Lake 34-27.

The final score has been kinder to the Sentinels than the Bison have been, thanks in part to Bethel's Zaydrius Rainey-Sale.

The consensus top player in the state, Rainey-Sale is responsible for 21 points by himself.

He's returned a fumble recovery and an interception for touchdowns while playing linebacker, then scored on a wide receiver screen from more than 20 yards out.

At the end of the line of Spanaway Lakes players shaking hands with their Bethel opponents, Rainey-Sale finds him.

D'Aryhian Clemons isn't wearing his pads anymore.

An injury knocked him out of the game in the first quarter.

He dons a gray Washington sweatshirt and a disgruntled scowl.

The moment they actually meet is brief.

There's no sign of recognition.

No bragging or postgame evaluations.

It almost looks like they've never met.

In less than 12 months, Clemons and Rainey-Sale will be playing together for the Huskies.

Rainey-Sale, a four-star linebacker, is the No.

1 player in Washington for the 2025 recruiting cycle.

Clemons, a three-star defensive back, is considered the No.

5 player in the state.

And no matter how well they hide it on the gridiron, they're also best friends.

"He's my twin, for real," Clemons said.

"Me and him have the same mindset.

We think the same." Added Rainey-Sale: "I miss my brother.

It's going to be good being on the same side as him." Clemons and Rainey-Sale have been inseparable since they started playing football together for the Parkland Raiders Youth Football Association in fourth grade.

Neither player, however, was born in Washington.

A measured speaker with a bright smile who spends his free time working with youth football programs in Spanaway, Clemons originally hails from Savannah, Ga.

and moved to Pierce County in 2010.

Rainey-Sale outgoing, talkative and quick with a laugh spent his early childhood in Honolulu's Kalihi neighborhood.

He has Samoan heritage through his mother and arrived in Tacoma with his family in 2013.

Despite their different upbringings, Clemons and Rainey-Sale, who's a year younger and won't turn 17 until Nov.

11, quickly found common ground on the football field.

Both cited having similar mentalities and competitive streaks as an early part of their friendship.

Their bond quickly grew into more.

Camping trips, traveling the country for football first with the Parkland Raiders and later with Ford Sports Performance and pickup basketball games at the YMCA are just a handful of the memories they share.

In fifth grade, Clemons said they promised to play at UW together.

In sixth grade, Rainey-Sale said Clemons got so fast that he took the starting running back role, forcing Rainey-Sale to play fullback.

"They're very tight, you know, like brothers," Tanya Sale, Zaydrius' mother said.

"They always look out for each other.

I'm excited to see what the next step is for them, the next level, and to see where this goes for the both of them." Rainey-Sale said people often mistook them for being twins when they were younger because of their speed and physicality.

Clemons took offense to that, noting he'd never have the hairstyle Rainey-Sale sported during their youth football days.

Clemons compared it to a pineapple.

It's the kind of easy rapport developed over years.

They fire off smack talk and jokes at a head-spinning pace, and the laughter is seemingly never ending.

"They're both so positive-minded," Charelle Walls, Clemons' mother said.

"I'm very thankful he has a friend in Zay, and I know together they'll be great." But on the football field, their personalities change.

Tracy Ford, of Ford Sports Performance, has worked with Clemons and Rainey-Sale since they were in middle school.

He credited them along with Graham-Kapowsin High School tight end and UCLA commit Noah Flores and Clemons' Spanaway Lake teammate LaRon Paige for bringing a real work ethic back to FSP's culture.

Ford likened Clemons and Rainey-Sale's impact on FSP to a cultural shift he'd experienced with former UW running backs Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin.

"It was built on hard work, not just on how many offers I can get and what you can do for me," Ford said.

"The old school." The only thing that was actually able to separate Clemons and Rainey-Sale was school-zoning rules, leading their football paths to diverge for the first time.

At Bethel, Rainey-Sale quickly became the state's most sought-after prospect.

He amassed 20 scholarship offers as programs like Penn State, Oklahoma, Miami and Oregon all came calling.

On Jan.

8, hours before Washington played Michigan in the College Football Playoff championship game, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker committed to stay home and play for the Huskies and coach Kalen DeBoer.

Then, DeBoer exited for Alabama to replace the retiring Nick Saban.

Rainey-Sale decommitted on Jan.

12, and one of DeBoer's first actions with the Crimson Tide was offering Rainey-Sale a scholarship.

Florida State, UCLA and Oregon State were also in the mix, while UW remained an option.

Unlike his best friend, Clemons' recruitment was slower.

Ford said opposing teams refused to throw the ball in his direction during Clemons' junior season, leaving him with very little film to show college coaches.

He ended up with eight offers including Louisville, West Virginia and Arizona State, but California, Washington State and UW were his final three.

On June 24, while Rainey-Sale was still evaluating his options, Clemons announced a commitment to Washington and coach Jedd Fisch.

The 6-foot, 170-pound defensive back said he wanted to stay close to family and appreciated the brotherhood he saw in Fisch's program.

Clemons said he tried not to pressure Rainey-Sale into a decision.

He told his best friend to "go where his heart felt" and assumed the linebacker was going to commit to Florida State.

But Rainey-Sale said seeing Clemons commit made his decision a little easier.

So on Sunday, June 30 one day before announcing his commitment publicly Rainey-Sale let Clemons know they were teaming up again on Montlake.

"He told me he was staying home, not changing his mindset," Clemons said.

Rainey-Sale plans to enroll early, possibly as soon as January in time for winter conditioning.

Clemons also hopes to get to UW as soon as possible, potentially before spring practices.

Rainey-Sale said they're bringing "greatness" and "legacy" to Washington.

Clemons said having a best friend like Rainey-Sale who's grown up with him during their football journey has been a special experience.

He's even more excited to share their next steps.

Together again.

"It means a lot, honestly," Clemons said.

"Having that person that understands the process and what I'm going through mentally, physically.

"It's like that's really my brother at the end of the day." (c)2024 The Seattle Times Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC..

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