Texas High School Football Player Collapses at Game, Dies

The Alto Yellowjackets high school football team and an entire Texas community are mourning the death of one of their own. The Alto superintendent confirmed that Cam'ron Matthews died Saturday after collapsing during a Friday night game, KLTV reports—making the junior the sixth high school football player to die in the US this season, USA Today notes. Right before a kickoff late in the first half of the game, Cam'ron had mentioned to teammates he felt dizzy, and he collapsed on the sidelines shortly thereafter; initial reports indicated he had had a seizure. He was airlifted to a local hospital and pronounced dead just after 6pm Saturday.

Cam'ron's status as the sixth death is just a continuation of last year's sobering stats. Per the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, 11 high school players died last year: five from direct fatalities such as head or spinal injuries, and six from indirect fatalities, including heatstroke and water intoxication. And he wasn't the only one who suffered a serious injury on the field this weekend: Brandon Massey, a sophomore at Durham's Jordan High School in North Carolina, broke his neck during a Friday game and will be undergoing surgery Sunday, High School OT reports. Meanwhile, the Alto community came together to remember Cam'ron at a Saturday night vigil. "When you have your own kids and you want them to emulate someone and follow in their footsteps, Cam'ron was a perfect example of that," the school superintendent said, per KTRE. "He was a great kid in the classroom, unbelievable athlete, but more importantly, just a great, great kid." (A Seattle player died just over two weeks ago.)