Student killed in 2020 crash to be honored at Clay vs. Perrysburg football game

OREGON, Ohio (WTVG) - Clay and Perrysburg may be fierce rivals on the football field, but tonight, both teams will be honoring the memory of a friend and teammate they lost too soon.

“It was gut-wrenching for sure, just to know my longtime best friend and to know that he was in that accident, it replays in my mind a lot and it’s not something that I want to think about,” Mason Heintschel, a junior at Clay High School said.

On June 11, 2020, Lukas Mason was killed in front of Clay High School while riding his bike. He was just 13 years old at the time.

“The best word I think that describes Lukas is light, or laughter. He was incredibly funny, incredibly quick-witted, positive, saw the good in everybody,” Jodie Mason, Lukas’ mother said. “How many kids and people that came up to me that said, Lukas was the only one who talked to me at lunch or at art class, called him their best friend, even though they never been to my house.”

Heintschel, who wears number six, and Troy Hazuda, who wears number three both kept that light shining every Friday night.

“We knew right away that I think one of the most important things for us to do was wear his number, he was number 63,” Hazuda, a junior at Clay High School said. “So you know Mason wears six and I wear three, it’s just a great way to honor him on the field.”

At the football game on Sept. 15, Perrysburg will be honoring Lukas as well as Eric Bush, who grew up playing football in a junior league with Lukas.

“He was actually one of the first guys to come up to me because I was new, I was the only kid from Perrysburg,” Bush said. “They were all like friends from the same city, I was from a different city, so he came to talk to me, and we just became friends since then.”

Lukas’ mother has kept the memory of her son alive by donating his organs.

“His heart beats on, and to me, it’s so important he lives on through these other people,” Jodie Mason said. “Organ donation is the way to go if you can stop anybody else from feeling grief or pain and give them a second chance at life. I know that’s what he would want.”

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