Friday, the family and friends of 21-year-old Clark Yarbrough will gather at Mt. Hebron Missionary Baptist Church in Garland to say goodbye to the young man who was known as a natural born leader and local football star.
Ouachita Baptist senior defensive lineman Yarbrough died Sept. 4 after collapsing suddenly, the school said in a social media post.
In a press conference, head coach Todd Knight said they're awaiting autopsy results to know more about the cause.
“He was a beast on the field. But off the field, he was a gentle giant, a leader, a mentor to the younger players," Knight told reporters.
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He said Yarbrough had dreams of becoming an athletic director.
Back in North Texas, tributes poured in from Yarbrough's former teammates and coaches like Dwayne Snyder, who started working with him in second grade.
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“It’s tragic to lose someone like a Clark Yarbrough, who is one of those kids that's a model kid, professional, in every sense, passionate," said Snyder.
Yarbrough, 21, had two tackles in Thursday's 42-32 win at Oklahoma Baptist. He was an All-Great American Conference honorable mention selection last year who had 27 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry.
Yarbrough was from Rowlett and played for Sachse High School. Sachse Principal Shae Creel tweeted a remembrance Sunday night.
"In this business, you see a lot of things. You share the wins, the losses, the laughs, the cries…and so on. Nothing prepares you for the loss of life. We lost a good one. Rest easy big man!" Creel tweeted.
Ouachita Baptist is a Division II program in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.