POLACCA, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona officials have determined that a high school football player who collapsed on the field last month died of blunt force trauma to his head.
Charles Youvella took a hard fall during the fourth quarter of a Nov. 9 state playoff game and later died in Phoenix hospital. The 17-year-old Hopi High School senior had scored his team’s only touchdown in a 60-6 loss to Arizona Lutheran Academy.
The Maricopa County medical examiner’s office said Thursday that the cause of death is listed as accidental and that the full autopsy report isn’t yet complete.
The Arizona Interscholastic Association has said Youvella died of a traumatic brain injury.