((HT: WSFA-TV/Montgomery Advertiser-Josh Baker))
Faulkner head football coach Gregg Baker was sitting in his office early on a quiet Tuesday morning when he heard assistant coach Charles Knapp answer a call on his cell phone. Almost immediately, Baker knew something was wrong.
"You could tell by the change in Knapp's voice that something bad had happened," Baker said. "When he walked in my office, he was white as a ghost."
On the other end of that call to Knapp was Faulkner's dean of students, Faires Austin, and he had crushing news: Offensive linemen Teirson Hollis and Ryne Wilhite, both sophomores for the Eagles, had been killed in an early morning crash along U.S. 82 in Maplesville.
"It was like taking a punch to the gut," Baker said. "I've never dealt with this with one of my players. I was at (Alabama Christian Academy) when Jordan Creel's mother passed away, but that was different. This is one of my guys."
According to a statement from Faulkner, Hollis, a Douglasville, Ga., native, and Wilhite, who was from New Albany, Miss., were killed instantly when their car struck an 18-wheeler. They were returning to campus after visiting a friend in Tuscaloosa.
A little after 9 a.m., Baker stood before the rest of his guys and delivered one of the toughest speeches of his life as he informed the Faulkner players that two of their teammates had been killed.
"I think everyone is still in disbelief at this point," Baker said. "The guys took it about as well as you could hope, but it hurts. Several have been in and out of here most of the afternoon."
Here's WSFA's coverage from Kim Hendrix and Jeff Shearer
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