POTTSVILLE -- Coaches for a high school football team in Pottsville are being called heroes. The team was heading to a game Friday when a wreck happened right in front of their bus.
Players on Pottsville's Nativity BVM High School football team say there was no hesitation. The coaches almost instantly ran off the bus to help anyone hurt in the crash.
And as fate would have it, while the coaches thought they were helping a stranger in need, it turns out they help save someone they all know.
Some of the players posted a Snapchat video on Friday with one word on top calling the team's four coaches heroes.
"I secured the gentleman's neck who was involved in the crash. It was entrapped. A lot of the other coaches secured the scene," said coach Gino Yourey.
The team was heading to a game near State College when they witnessed a crash along Route 54 near Mount Carmel.
We spoke with the coaches who bolted from the bus as it was pouring rain to help those hurt.
The coaches secured the scene for 20 minutes until emergency responders arrived.
One coach stayed with a young man trapped in the car holding his neck the entire time.
"The kids were awesome. They clapped for us when we got back on the bus. They clapped for us, it was very emotional."
Maybe the most emotional part was after leaving the crash scene, head coach Tony Klazas realized the man they helped was a former Nativity BVM football player.
That player -- 2012 graduate Andrew Mickey -- was severely injured and hardly recognizable.
"I coached him," said Klasas. "He played for us for one year as a senior and came out. He's a great kid. It kind of hit home a little bit."
Typically, Nativity BVM football coaches teach their players lessons on the field, but on Friday the players say they learned a valuable lesson off the field.
"They put others ahead of themselves and they just sprung into action and did what was right," said team member Nicholas Quinn.
"We are grateful, really, because they helped someone in need," added team member Torin Shellhammer. "I think that is the reason for Nativity -- to help people and show we are just not a school, but a community."
The coaches emphasize the best part of this story is that their former player is expected to recover. He has several broken bones but came out of surgery Monday morning.
