PHOTO GALLERY ‘Fly High Cole + Nick’: McPherson Fills Stadium for Bullpups’ First Game Since Crash
Gate proceeds went to the McPherson County Community Foundation fund as McPherson beat Augusta 8-0 on Senior Night
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Sign up freeMCPHERSON, Kan. — On a crisp, cloudless fall night, a crowd dressed in red overflowed the bleachers and lined the track and fences at McPherson High School Stadium on Monday as the McPherson High School boys soccer team played its first game since Saturday’s crash in Wichita that killed two McPherson residents, Cole Adrian, 6, and Nicholas Schafer, 35. City leaders, first responders and families from across town filled the stands and the grass beyond them.
Players, parents and staff decided Sunday to continue the season, and McPherson High School asked the community to wear red and directed all gate proceeds and donations to the McPherson County Community Foundation fund for the families affected. Players, coaches and fans wore shirts reading “Fly High Cole + Nick,” and before kickoff both teams and the officials locked arms in a circle at midfield. Cole Adrian was the son of Chris Adrian, the Bullpups’ longtime head coach.
On the field, McPherson beat Augusta 8-0 in the Bullpups’ final regular-season home game, which also served as Senior Night.
The two were killed Saturday afternoon when a pickup truck drove onto a field at Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita during youth games. Ten others were injured.
The foundation’s fund, which accepts donations online and by check, covers funeral, medical and mental health expenses for the families of those killed and injured. A full list of fundraisers is available here.
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