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The three players from Cincinnati, Ohio who perished in the Marshall plane crash on November 14 1970. From left to right: Jack Repasy, Bob Harris and Mark Andrews. (Graphic -- Always Remembered by Susan A.) |
There are a countless number of ironic circumstances associated with the Marshall football plane crash. In this week's blog entry, I'm focusing solely on one of those situations.
The 1970 Thundering Herd had three players – Bob Harris, Jack Repasy and Mark Andrews – who were teammates at Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. When Marshall went on a road trip to play East Carolina, the parents of these three players drove south from Ohio to Greenville, North Carolina to watch their sons play.
After the game, Bob Harris Sr. and his wife wanted the three players to ride back with them to the school in Huntington, West Virginia. According to the senior Harris, the three players were reluctant to approach Marshall head coach Ricky Tolley about it.
The Cincinnati threesome played reasonably well in an agonizing 17-14 loss. Andrews was a key factor on the Thundering Herd's defensive line. Harris split time between playing quarterback and wide receiver. Repasy, a proven commodity at receiver, rarely dropped any ball thrown in his direction.
As things turned out, it would be the last time these parents would see their sons. Harris, Repasy and Andrews were among the 75 passengers on the DC-9 jet that crashed into the side of a mountain and burst into flames. There were no survivors.
“They were afraid because the coach was enraged because they had lost the game,” said Harris Sr. during an interview on the ESPN Classic documentary Remembering Marshall (2000). “They just didn’t want to ask him. And that haunts me to this day that I didn’t persist in getting them to ride back with us instead of going on the plane.”
After finishing his comments, tears start to well up in the eyes of the elder Harris. It was a clear sign that his recollections from that horrific November night continued to weigh heavily on his mind.
Very informative, keep posting such good articles, it really helps to know about things.
ReplyDeleteI'm no numerologist but it struck how many times the number 14 comes up in this horrible tragedy. Their last score in NC was 14. Then the player wearing the #14 jersey. 14 players died in a crash the month prior to the Marshall tragedy, which of course happened on August 14, 1970. I know that there is no truth to be found in astrology or any other man-made superstition, but it is odd.
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