A 17-14 overtime victory for Indiana State against North Alabama in its season-opening football game on Thursday, Sept. 1, was far more than just a nice way to start the season.
This game meant a lot to former Mt. Vernon standout Rylan Cole and his Sycamore football and university family.
It was more than just a football game. It was another chapter in a healing process for a program that has had to go through a most difficult time.
Christian Eubanks, 18, and Caleb VanHooser, 19, freshman members of the ISU football team were among five people in a car that crashed early in the morning on Aug. 21 in Riley, Indiana. An ISU student, Jayden Musili, Eubanks and VanHooser were killed in the accident. Two other Sycamore football players, Omarion Dixon and John Moore, were hospitalized.
“I remember the first walk through when we came back (to practice). It just didn’t feel the same,” Cole said. “We definitely had some missing pieces. I know them and they would have wanted us to keep it going and take it one step at a time, and not take any steps back. That’s what we did. We went into things knowing they’re gone, but still with us. They’ll be Sycamores forever. I know they were watching over us.”
Cole said the support of teammates, coaches, and others at Indiana State has helped each other deal with the grief. They’ve been able to lean on each other, always there for a listening ear.
Cole, a sophomore defensive back, did his own part of helping many Sycamores feel good again.
On Thursday, he was the defensive star of the game. His performance against UNA earned him the Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor. He had two interceptions, eight tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss.
His first interception set up Indiana State’s only touchdown. The second pick came in overtime to seal the victory.
Cole played on the same side of the ball with Eubanks and VanHooser. Eubanks was a linebacker and VanHooser was a defensive back. Cole was part of the hosting group for VanHooser when he came to ISU on his recruiting trip.
“It was extremely hard to hear (about the accident),” Cole said. “They would have made a huge impact on our team. Every person matters. They mattered a lot to our defense, our culture and our team in general.”
“Before the game, you could just feel everything we had been through,” Cole added. “You could just tell that all of us were closer than we were before. There’s purpose in our struggle. … We were ready to go.”
At the postgame press conference, Cole shared a story head coach Curt Mallory told at a memorial service for the players.
Running late for practice, Eubanks and VanHooser called the coach to tell him they were running behind. They were stopped at a railroad track.
Mallory was upset. He told the players they know Terre Haute has a lot of trains. They needed to plan for that and leave earlier.
In one of the practices since the accident, Mallory was running late to a team meeting – he was stopped at a railroad crossing.
Cole added, on game day, after the team meal – you guessed it – they were stopped by a train on the way back to the stadium.
“All three busses were stopped by a train. It brought chills to my body,” Cole said. “I knew they were looking over us. I knew they were there with us. That last play (the interception) was icing on the cake. They were here for us tonight. It was amazing.”
