‘We’re going to play for him this season’: East Jessamine football team mourns the loss of sophomore

The Nicholasville community is mourning the loss of an East Jessamine High School student who died over the weekend.

Nicholasville, Ky (WTVQ): The Nicholasville community is mourning the loss of an East Jessamine High School student who died over the weekend. The school district says Joseph Seagraves was in the 10th grade and played football for the school’s football team. Tuesday night the football team held practice.  Head Coach Mike Bowlin says the 15-year-old will be missed.

“We’re going to honor his memory and we’re going to play for him this season.”

The East Jessamine Jaguars enter the season with an empty spot on their roster and their hearts.

“The hardest thing you have to do is tell a group of kids that one of their friends has passed away.”

“We had some kids that thought about maybe going home. I said there’s probably no better place for you to be than right here with the guys that love ya.”

Seagraves played offensive and defensive lineman for East Jessamine.

“Tough as nails. When you’re a little bit smaller and you’re playing on the line and you’re going against the big boys. He never backed down or shied away from contact.”

Seagraves older brother played for East Jessamine. So, from an early age Joseph grew up a part of the Jaguar family.

His coach Bowlin describes Seagraves as the perfect teammate, “hope that your daughter grows up to date somebody like him. Just a wonderful human being, just can’t say enough good things about Joseph Seagraves. We just called him by his full name. We didn’t even call him Joseph. We called him Joseph Seagraves.”

The first game of the season is Friday night.

Bowlin says the team plans to honor Seagraves this year with his initials on their helmets. “Our motto this year is I will fight until I can’t fight no more.”

No official cause of death has yet been determined. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.