By MATT PIKE
A day of celebration on Saturday as college football returned, turned into a day of tragedy and sadness in Liberty, Missouri, after William Jewell running back MicahJo Barnett died on the day of the team's season opener.
Moments after scoring a touchdown, Barnett suffered a medical emergency. Play was suspended as the the Liberty Fire Department reported the incident happened just before 12:30 p.m. An ambulance was requested to respond to the field sideline for a player, who was later identifed as Barnett, who was experiencing a medical emergency. The player was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The game would soon be canceled as it was announed Barnett had passed away.
The news of Barnett's passing spread far and wide, including to Kingsville, Texas, where the Northwest Missouri State Bearcat football team was preparing to play a game that night against Texas A&M-Kingsville. The story was shocking, not only for head coach John McMenamin, but also defensive back Jackson Torry, a Lee's Summit West graduate, who faced Barnett, a graduate of Liberty North, in their time in high school. Barnett was a junior at William Jewell, while Torry is in his sophomore season at Northwest.
McMenamin says the situation is horrible and feels for the coaching staff at Jewell, saying that losing a player changes you.
"Because its like a family member that you lost, and its just lifes so fragile, sometimes this game gets transactional and all you care about is winning and losing, and I was like that for a long time too, but ultimately you make that transition family is family," McMenamin tells reporters. "And so you really cherish the moments you have with these kids, you hug your kids a little bit tighter and our players a little bit tighter, and just lifes so fragile."
Outside of Torry, who played against Bennett in high school, McMenamin says its also been a tough time for at least three of his players, who played with Bennett in high school at Liberty North.
"We've got a handful of guys that were teammates of his here that are really struggling, and there's not a good answer other than to just be there and you've got to mourn properly, and that's just part of it," McMenamin explains. "And I really feel our prayers are with the program, the family, just because that normal is never going to be the same, its going to be a new normal and there's always going to be a big piece of their puzzle missing for awhile."
Torry says he first saw the news in the lobby of the teams hotel prior to the game in Kingsville, and when it was announced it was Barnett who had died says he felt sadness for his teammates who played with him, and reflected on his memories of going against Barnett.
"I played against him football and track from freshman year to senior year, knew he was a great kid and he was one heck of an athlete, even had a touchdown during the game," Torry says. "So, just seeing that was extremely sad, knowing that's a guy that's just like me, that could happen to any one of us, and just being extremely prayerful towards his teammates, his coaching staff, everyone that knew him, amd then making sure I'm checking in on my teammates that do know him, the other guys that know him, because this sport is just so much more than what goes out on the field, its a family, and everybody out here has a family, its just so much more than being transactional like coach was saying."
Barnett’s family has planned a celebration of life service for Saturday at Memorial Hall, located at 600 North 7th Street, in Kansas City, Kansas. A visitation will begin at 9am with the celebration of life service immediately following at 11am. There is also currently a GoFund Me to help the Barnett family with funeral expenses for those interested by clicking HERE.
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