When friends and BYU fans John Sharpe and Nate Hull saw BYU was coming to Ames, Iowa — just a three-hour drive from their homes in Rochester, Minnesota — to play the Iowa State Cyclones, they decided they had to go.

BYU football had been a source of bonding for Sharpe and Hull after Hull and his family moved into Sharpe’s congregation for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints eight years ago.

Now, they would share that love with their sons. Hull would bring his oldest five sons, Chase, Jett, Dash, Rowan and Ryder, and Sharpe would bring his two sons, Harrison and William, to Ames to watch their favorite team in person.

But before they could, Hull died unexpectedly in August while running at the age of 43 — roughly two months before the game.

After overcoming the initial shock

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