Ben Flick, a 6′-6″ 272 pound red shirt freshman from the University of Cincinnati, died in a car crash after the Bearcats 14-0 win over rival Miami of Ohio.

Ben Flick was a graduate of Hamilton High School where he played football.  There were three others involved in the crash: Sean VanDyne, a friend of Flick’s and high school teammate, was driving the car. Sean VanDyne also died after being taken to the hospital.

Flick had been pronounced dead at the scene. Sean VanDyne was a freshman at Miami. Police have announced that alcohol was involved, but no further information has been released.

The other two passengers in the car were Mark Barr, a 6′-1″ 163 pound redshirt receiver for the Bearcats. Barr was severely injured during the crash and remains in critical condition at University Hospital. Barr was from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and played for St. Thomas Aquinas last season. Javon Harrison, also a red shirt freshman from Dayton Ohio was also injured in the crash. Harrison played football at Huber Heights in Dayton.

Since all three members of the team were red shirts they could not travel with the team but made the trip on their own to attend the game. When asked about the incident, Bearcats coach Tommy Tuberville had this to say to the Associative Press, “I can’t put into words how tragic this is, as a father and a coach, it’s something you hope you never have to go through.”

Tragedies like this affect communities and after news of the crash old teammates and classmates from Hamilton gathered at their football stadium to mourn the loss of their friends.

When asked about his reaction to the accident senior Ben Smith said, “It’s a shame that someone who was so talented and so young had to go so soon.”

This is a huge blow to the Bearcats’ organization, after already losing their quarter back to injury, and now two players are in the hospital, and another gone forever. With conference play starting this week, hopefully the Bearcats can overcome this tragic event, and keep pushing forward. The team had a bye week this past week and have had time to mourn their loss.