Vandal QB Blackman fighting through

MOSCOW, Idaho – They were all buddies back in Los Angeles. Dominique Blackman, Brandon Wimberly and Ken McRoyal – three gifted athletes bonded by football and family.

Now just two of them remain, and Blackman – Idaho’s new starting quarterback – knows it could easily be just him.

One friend’s life was narrowly saved; the other didn’t make it.

Three months ago, Blackman and Wimberly – former teammates at L.A.’s Gardena High – were reunited to mourn the death of McRoyal, the Idaho receiver who was shot outside a Los Angeles party on May 13.

Blackman and McRoyal were second cousins and best friends. Wimberly, a receiver at Nevada, was also close to McRoyal – and he nearly died from a gunshot 11 months earlier.

Wimberly took a bullet in the abdomen in June 2011 in Reno, Nev.

He spent two weeks in a hospital and missed all of last season recuperating. Josh Wright, SR Full story.

Will you be following tonight's Vandals vs. Eagles game? My brother is a UofI grad and my husand is an EWU grad. So, I think I'll just watch the Seahawks vs. Raiders game.