High School Football Player Dies After Game

Dennis Mitchell was only 16
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 25, 2018 5:00 PM CDT
High School Football Player Dies After Game
   (Getty Images)

A Mississippi high school football player who collapsed on the sidelines of a game has died, the AP reports. Sophomore Dennis Mitchell, 16, collapsed on the field Friday night, news outlets reported. In a post on Byhalia High School's Facebook page Saturday, the school announced Mitchell's death and asked that people keep Mitchell's family and school community in their prayers. Mitchell was standing on the sidelines in the second quarter when he fell face-first and then began shaking, the Press Register reports. Players immediately called for help and the game stopped. Byhalia parents, school officials, and emergency workers began to treat the 5-foot-11-inch, 260-pound Mitchell. Coaches could be heard calling out, "Stay with me, Dennis. Stay with me."

Mitchell was lifted on a stretcher and placed in the back of the ambulance, which then transported him to Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in Clarksdale. Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith said Mitchell was pronounced dead at the hospital at 8:40pm Friday. The body will be sent for an autopsy, but Meredith says Mitchell had no prior health problems and heat was not a factor. Head coach John Danley tells the Press Register he has been playing and coaching football 30 years and never experienced a moment like Friday's. He says he was not aware of any health issues that Mitchell had experienced. Byhalia would go on to win the contest, 28-7. The school is located in northern Mississippi, about 30 miles southeast of Memphis, Tennessee.

(More football player stories.)

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