'This can’t be real.’ Indiana high school football player Trevor Buckley dies day after varsity debut

RUSSIAVILLE, Ind. – On Saturday morning, as the Western High School football coaches met to decompress and plan ahead after Friday night’s season opening 28-14 loss to neighbor Kokomo, Trevor Buckley’s name came up in the discussion.

Buckley, a junior defensive lineman, had missed his entire sophomore year of football. He stayed home, attending school virtually in an effort to keep COVID-19 at arm’s length as his mother, Wilda Buckley, was going through chemotherapy treatments as she battled breast cancer.