HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer paid tribute Saturday to the memory of a former teammate and the 74 other members of the Marshall University football team, coaching staff and community killed in a 1970 plane crash.
Beamer laid a 3-inch by 5-inch piece of stone at the nearby Spring Hill Cemetery memorial about 212 hours before the game between his No. 13 Hokies and the Thundering Herd. He was teammates at Virginia Tech with Frank Loria, who went on to become an assistant at Marshall under fellow Tech graduate Rick Tolley. Tolley also was killed in the crash at the nearby Tri-State Airport.
Virginia Tech players also will wear a sticker commemorating the crash on the backs of their helmets and Loria’s son, Frank Loria Jr., will handle the coin toss.
