2012 Appalachian State FOOTBALL
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HISTORY AND TRADITIONS
APPALACHIAN HEROES
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ROB BEST, SHAWN ELLIOTT & STACY SEARELS
s the Appalachian State football team departed Johnson City, Tenn. on Sept. 30, 2000, the most shocking thing to happen that night had been Joe Burchette’s evolution from third-string quarterback to starter in a 30-13 win at East Tennessee State. As October began a couple of hours later, however, who took the bulk of snaps from center was the farthest thing from any Mountaineer’s mind. As the ASU buses rounded a corner on Route 105 in Foscoe six miles from home around 12:30 in the morning, they came upon a fiery accident that appeared to involve a van and a car. Not long after the buses came to a stop, someone on the lead bus recognized the van as the one transporting the football team’s student trainers, managers and videographers. Shouts of, “That’s our van!” were followed quickly by the buses’ occupants scrambling to get to the van. The first three people out of the bus were offensive coaches Stacy Searels, Rob Best and Shawn Elliott. “The car was engulfed in flames,“ said Best, “and our biggest concern was that it might spread to the van.” According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, a 1989 Audi station wagon driven by John V. White, III crossed the center line going about 60 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone and hit the 2000 Dodge Ram van head on. The car immediately burst into flames and White is believed to have died instantly. Head coach Jerry Moore attempted to help the driver of the car, but “there was nothing anyone could do. The whole car was just a mass of flames, and he was pinned in there.” As Searels, Best and Elliott reached the van, they found that two of the 13 passengers were still in the van: assistant athletic trainer Tony Barnett, the driver of the van, and Searels’ student assistant coach Jonathan Taylor. Searles ripped open the mangled door to the van and pulled Taylor out. Barnett was trapped by a tangled seat belt and an inflated air bag. “Tony was pinned in the seat,” said Best. “Stacy dragged Jonathan out and Shawn and I both grabbed the driver’s seat and yanked it back to try and get Tony free. Stacy came back and helped us get him out.” “Stacy got in there and all but ripped the whole seat out of that van,” added Moore. “Fire was everywhere, but he had Tony in his arms and was getting him back toward the buses.” The 13 passengers were now out of the van, but in varying stages of injury, pain and shock, and many were still dangerously close to the burning wreck. “When we first ran up, there were people just kind of lying on the ground,” said sophomore wide receiver Joe Hamilton, “we grabbed a couple of the people and moved them away from the scene.” Jake Stroot, team video coordinator and Appalachian Sports Network sideline reporter, had managed to get out of the van, but could get no further. “I got out of the van and I couldn’t walk,” said Stroot. “(Neil Cornatzer, Aaron Dobbins and Daniel Jeremiah) carried me like 50 yards away.” “About four to six minutes after we got them out,” said Best, “the van ignited. (The fire) spread pretty fast.” Best called the scene “unbelievable” as head athletic trainer Andy Massey examined the injured and the players attended to them. “It was a complete role reversal,” said Best. “The players had the kids who were in the van wrapped up in blankets and were applying pressure to stop bleeding wounds. The response and composure a lot of those guys showed was just amazing.” “They worked on me for six years now to try and keep me on the field,” said senior wide receiver Joey Gibson, who missed the 1999 season with a knee injury. “It was kind of a flip to see us working on them.” “Everybody who was out there helping, being nothing but 10 or 15 yards away from that van, was at a risk,” said Moore. “They ought to hang a medal around everyone’s neck.” “That was hero stuff going on,” said defensive coordinator John Wiley. When EMS services arrived minutes later, many of the injured were prepared to be loaded onto ambulances. Barnett and Taylor were the first to be transported out. Taylor was taken to Cannon Memorial Hospital and life-flighted to Johnson City (Tenn.) Memorial Hospital, while Barnett was admitted at Watauga Medical Center. Of the other 11 passengers, five were taken to WMC and five to CMH. Only the frontseat passenger was spared a hospital visit, due to a seatbelt and air bag. Most of the injuries consisted of broken bones and cuts. In all, only seven stayed the night in the hospital and after 10 days only Taylor remained hospitalized in serious, but stable condition with a severe concussion and some broken bones. After the injured were taken away, the team buses were allowed through the accident scene to get home at about 2 a.m. A quiet 10 minute ride was followed by a team meeting. Before any of the equipment was unloaded the players and coaches gathered in the Mountaineer
Rob Best, Stacy Searels and Shawn Elliott were presented with the NCAA Award of Valor, recognizing individuals who, when confronted with a situation involving personal danger, averted or minimized potential disaster by courageous action or noteworthy bravery.
3-TIME NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Room in Owens Field House and prayed. Some prayed silently, while others verbalized their hopes and wishes. That early morning meeting is hardly the end of the story, however. Coaches still needed to coach and players still needed to play, and those were not the easiest things to do for awhile. Athletics director Roachel Laney spent every day for the next week at the different hospitals, as did Massey and the coaching staff. Someone from the ASU football team visited Johnson City daily to be with Jonathan and his family. The staff also learned the nature of their relationship with the rest of the Southern Conference coaches and teams. East Tennessee State made extra copies of their game films to replace the ASU copies lost in the accident. Also, the ETSU branch of Fellowship of Christian Athletes met Taylor’s mother and held prayer meetings at Johnson City Memorial every night. On top of all this, the team had to prepare to face sixth-ranked and SoCon rival Furman the next Saturday on regional television and deal with the attention from media. “I hear about a different hero every day,” said Moore after listening to different people’s stories. “We’re grateful and fortunate that we didn’t lose anyone. But one life was lost and our hearts and prayers are with that family, too.” “Everyone had their own heroes,” said Stroot. “Everyone had two or three guys helping them out. It’s really a big family. You realize how much everyone cares for you.” It was an emotional week, which was capped by an 18-17, come-from-behind win over the Paladins. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Searels searched for a cell phone on the field. Finding one, he dialed the number for Taylor’s room in Johnson City. After getting Jonathan on the phone Searels proclaimed, “We won, Jonathan. We did it. We did it for you.” “I’ll never be prouder of a program, no matter what happens on the field,” said Moore, long before the Furman contest. “They’ve learned a lot about priorities and how fragile life and health can be. They’ve showed me they have qualities that will serve them well a long time after they don’t play football games anymore.” For their actions that night, Searels, Best and Elliott were presented with the NCAA Award of Valor. The award is presented only in years when there is a worthy candidate or candidates. It recognizes a current intercollegiate athletics coach or administrator, or a current or former varsity letter winner at an NCAA institution, who, when confronted with a situation involving personal danger, averted or minimized potential disaster by courageous action or noteworthy bravery. In all, the NCAA Award of Valor has only been presented 13 times since its inception in 1974. Best, who left ASU after the 2002 season to be the offensive coordinator at the University at Buffalo, is currently the head coach at Pilot Point High School in suburban Dallas, Texas. Elliott and Searels both serve as offensive-line coaches at college-football powers — Elliott at South Carolina and Searels at Texas.
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BRIAN STOKES
any events on the gridiron during Appalachian’s run to consecutive NCAA Division I national championships in 2005 and ‘06 were described as heroic. However, ASU benefitted from the presence of a true hero on the field and in the locker room during the championship campaigns. Brian Stokes came to ASU in 2005 as a 26-year-old freshman. Prior to his arrival in the High Country, Stokes spent five years in the United States Marine Corps, serving deployments to over 10 countries during his military career, including two tours of duty in Iraq. During Stokes’ second tour in Iraq in 2004, the former all-state linebacker and fullback at Williams H.S. in Burlington, N.C. served in over 200 combat missions, including the invasion of Fullujah. A sergeant in the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, Stokes was the commanding officer in a humvee near Lutayfiah in August 2004 when his convoy was the target of two 200-kilogram roadside bombs, which blew the 300-pound doors off Stokes’ humvee when detonated within yards of the armored vehicle. Everyone in the vehicle survived, but Stokes suffered shrapnel wounds in his right arm and lost the majority of hearing in his right ear. Following his release from active duty, Stokes and fellow Marine Wayne Norman enrolled at Appalachian, where head coach Jerry Moore welcomed the heroes with open arms. Both were on the field for the opening kickoff in the 2005 home opener versus Coastal Carolina. Stokes was a regular contributor on special teams and played an important role in the Mountaineers winning their first-ever national title. Little did Stokes know that just one week prior to the 21-16 victory over Northern Iowa in the 2005 NCAA DIvision I-AA national championship game, he was awarded a Purple Heart for the injuries he sustained in the roadside bomb attack 16 months earlier. He wasn’t aware of the recognition until the Purple Heart arrived in the mail in February 2006. Due to injury-riddled stints as a member of the football programs at East Carolina and Elon following Stokes’ standout highschool career, the former Shrine Bowl participant was granted just two years of eligibility at ASU by the NCAA. He returned for his final gridiron campaign in 2006 and again was a key special-teams performer for Appalachian’s second-straight national title march. Stokes finished his career with eight tackles in 29 games and capped his football-playing days with an appearance in the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Classic in El Paso, Texas. His story has been told in dozens of newspapers and on television programs across the region and nation, highlighted by an appearance on CBS’ Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson in 2005. He was married in July 2007 and graduated with Purple Heart recipient Brian Stokes a degree in criminal justice in 2008. A was a special-teams standout for the movie chronicling Stokes’ journey is in early Mountaineers in 2005 and ‘06. production stages.
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11-TIME SoCon CHAMPIONS