San Jose Academy High School football player Matt Blea was still in critical condition Friday morning from head trauma he sustained during Thursday's annual Thanksgiving game with rival Lincoln-San Jose at San Jose City College.
The San Jose Mercury News reported that Blea, 16, fell backward and struck his head on the artificial turf after a collision with an opposing player, got up and went to the sidelines before collapsing.
Blea's family, including his father Dave, an assistant coach for the team, tried to revive him on the sideline before paramedics arrived 10 minutes later. Blea went in and out of consciousness.
According to reports he was rushed to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he had surguries to address a hairline fracture of the skull. San Jose Academy football coach Jason Pierce told the newspaper that the next 48 hours are cruicial for Blea's recovery.
Students at San Jose High Academy held a vigil at a community center on Friday.
Pierce said Blea is the team's most valuable player and a "coach's dream."
Mercury News sports writer Dennis Knight was on the sideline covering the game. He told MaxPreps: "I've seen broken ankles and broken legs occur but this was the scariest thing I've ever seen on a football field.
"I was following the ball and really didn't see the hit but it didn't appear like a big deal. But then he collapsed and his dad kept telling him 'squeeze my finger Matt! Don't fall asleep! Come on Matt!' It was just so intense. It was really hard to focus on the game."
Especially for the San Jose Academy players. Lincoln eventually won the game 36-18, its first win of the season. The players and coaching staff had a tough time celebrating. The 67th annual game drew about 5,000 fans.
"You really realize after seeing something like this how small the result of a game matters," Knight said.
Bryan Blea, Matt's older brother, wrote that the latest surgury "went perfect. The doctor said he expects him to be OK," he wrote on a MySpace social networking site. "Matt had his first CAT scan and his brain has almost shifted back to the middle, which is good news. He still will be heavily medicated, so may not be awake still."
Blea's injury brings further into focus a growing epidemic of head traumas on football fields at all levels.