High school football player dies after equipment falls, hits him

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A 17-year-old high school football player in western Kentucky was killed when a heavy piece of metal equipment struck him, police said on Friday.

Jayvon Quarles was helping move the football equipment for the Hopkinsville High School team on Thursday afternoon, when it fell and struck him, Hopkinsville, police said.

Quarles was taken to the Jennie Stuart Medical Center in the city 70 miles northwest of Nashville, Tennessee, where he was pronounced dead, police said. He died due to blunt force head trauma.

Quarles was a senior running back who did not play last season, according to The Kentucky New Era newspaper, which reported the accident happened before football practice. He also was a member of a state champion powerlifting team and finished second in the state in his weight class, the paper said.

A preseason scrimmage game set for Friday evening was canceled. The team’s first regular season game is scheduled for next Friday.