Injury at Homecoming Game Highlights the Danger of Football

Fans at the homecoming football game between Scarsdale and Yonkers on Friday September 22 witnessed quite a disturbing sight when a Yonkers player went down with an injury and stayed down, apparently unconscious, for over half an hour. As the sky darkened and the floodlights turned on, it was not players on the field but an ambulance instead.

From the beginning of the game, it was clear that Scarsdale had the upper hand. They quickly capitalized on two turnovers with sharp scoring drives, highlighted by long touchdown runs by junior Ryan Gilligan. The Yonkers offense punted the ball away on over half of their first half possessions. Scarsdale’s turnovers consisted of a forced fumble and long touchdown return and an interception by senior captain Camden Matles. With only a few minutes left in the first half, the Raiders led 28-0. And then, in the midst of a drive where it seemed probable that Yonkers would finally get points on the board, a hard tackle by a Scarsdale player led to a Yonkers player on the ground.

As the minutes went on, it became increasingly clear that the injury was severe; the Scarsdale medical staff opted not to turn the unmoving player onto his back. The once rambunctious student section sat down and watched as the player was tended to and, eventually, an ambulance hurried onto the field. The player was collected, placed in the ambulance, and rushed away. In the end, the entire ordeal took almost an hour, leading to an early and abnormally long halftime.

After the players had warmed back up, many fans expected the scoreboard to turn back on to reflect the score before the injury. However, the neon numbers never flashed back on, showing the permanent effect the injury had on the game. It remained unclear whether the game had ended 28-0, or if the game had been cancelled after the injury and the play after was simply a scrimmage.

In the end, it was a dominant victory for Scarsdale’s team, but their performance was overshadowed by the gravity of such an injury. This experience served as a core reminder of the dangers of a game like football at the high school level, and fans of Scarsdale can only hope that such a situation does not arise again.

Reporting by Sajiv Mehta, Photos by Elliot Zhang