A Texas high school football player died Friday night after throwing a touchdown pass and then collapsing, the Beaumont Enterprise reported.
West Orange-Stark quarterback Reggie Garrett collapsed on the sideline soon after throwing his second touchdown pass of the game Friday.
The 6-foot-2 senior arrived at the Memorial Hermann Baptist-Orange Hospital emergency room about 8:30 p.m. local time and was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m., hospital spokeswoman Mary Poole said.
Poole said an autopsy had been ordered and the cause of Garrett’s death was being investigated.
According to West Orange coach Dan Hooks, Garrett appeared to have suffered a seizure. Garrett appeared unresponsive as medics took him from the field midway through the second quarter.
Several West Orange-Stark players dropped to one knee as medics tended to Garrett, the paper reported. Other players put their arms around each other as the stadium fell silent.
Word of Garrett’s death began to circulate in the third quarter. Hooks said the teams finished out the game because of the uncertainty about Garrett’s status.
Hooks told the paper Garrett’s mother said the player had suffered a seizure “maybe three years ago.â€