Alabama high school football player dies after head injury during game

Aug. 25 (UPI) – An Alabama high school football player has died after suffering a head injury during his team's season-opening game Friday night, the boy's parents reported on social media.

Morgan T. Academy quarterback Caden Tellier, 16, died Saturday after suffering a brain injury during the private school's first home game in Selma on Friday night, his family confirmed on social media.

“Our boy, Caden Tellier, met Jesus face to face,” said a post on Facebook by the boy’s parents, Arsella Slagel Tellier and Jamie Tellier.

“Everyone who knows Caden has experienced kindness, generosity and love, and true to his nature, he gives of himself once again. His life touched lives, and now, through his death, lives will be saved. We will walk by his side in his earthly body for the next few days, knowing that his spirit rejoices in heaven.”

The principal of the John T. Morgan Academy, Bryan Oliver, also confirmed the teenager’s death on Facebook.

“There are no words to describe how we feel as a school community and family,” he said in a statement, describing Tellier as “a student, a friend, an athlete and, most importantly, a follower of Christ.”

“We also express our deepest condolences to the Tellier extended family.”

According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Tellier was injured in the third quarter of a game between Morgan and Southern Academy and was subsequently flown by helicopter to a hospital in Birmingham.

In response, John T. Morgan Academy has canceled all school activities for the week.

The Alabama Independent School Association issued a statement supporting the academy's decision and expressing its condolences.

“As a small school, Morgan Academy feels this tragedy even more deeply and the Alabama Independent School Association is here to offer them any support and resources necessary to assist them in their grief,” AISA Executive Director Michael McLendon said in the statement.