HS SENIOR PIGSKIN TRAGEDY
Star QB dies after hit
A New Jersey highschool quarterback friends labeled a “warrior-poet” is dead after taking a hard hit in the backfield during a home game.
Evan Murray, 17, a senior at Warren Hills Regional HS in Warren County’s Washington Township, walked off the field unassisted Friday night after the secondquarter play.
Then, at halftime, he suddenly collapsed.
“He was laying on the ground and everyone was looking at him,” witness Taylor Coughlin, 16, told Lehighvalleylive.com. “He did get back up. He stood up with help and sat on a gurney.”
“He was tackled and the firstaid squad was working on him,” said Frank Hamler of Belvidere, NJ, who attended the Warren Hills Blue Streak game to support his greatgrandson Austin Hamler, a teammate of Murray.
“They announced over the loudspeaker they took him to the hospital,” Hamler told The Post. “Such a terrible thing.”
Murray died at Morristown Medical Center, authorities said.
An autopsy was planned for Saturday afternoon, according to Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke.
Murray, the team’s starting quarterback for three years, also played baseball and basketball.
His death sparked anguished posts on social media, including a tweet from Gov. Chris Christie. A GoFundMe page set up on his family’s behalf — which called Murray “a bright kid who excelled in academics and in sports” — collected more than $19,000 by Saturday afternoon.
“Man. Myth. Legend. I hope one day I can be half the man Evan Murray was and will forever be,” tweeted friend Sevian Frangipane.
Murray’s girlfriend, Bailey Reyes, posted on Twitter: “I lost the love of my life last night. I miss you Evan and I love you indefinitely.”
Her father, Christopher Reyes, said that his daughter “just wants to grieve in peace.”
A memorial gathering for staff and students was held at the school on Saturday, and grief counseling was being offered there throughout the weekend.
Gary Bowen, the school district’s interim superintendent, expressed condolences to the Mur ray family. He declined to take questions from reporters, saying that the cause of Murray’s death had not yet been determined.
“He was a brother to us,” classmate Anthony Veneziano told Lehighvalleylive. “We’re all brothers. We’re going to be brothers forever.”
Murray’s death is at least the third onfield highschool football death this season, following incidents in Oklahoma and Louisiana.
The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research says 77 highschool football players have died of gamerelated injuries since 1995.
Last year, a 16yearold Staten Islander, Miles Kirkland, died after going into cardiac arrest during a practice with the Curtis HS Warriors.
I lost the love of my life last night. I miss you Evan and I love you indefinitely. — Murray’s girlfriend, Bailey Reyes, on Twitter