Moon Valley HS's Carlos Sanchez Killed By Football

PHOENIX, AZ – When Carlos Sanchez, a junior at Moon Valley High School collapsed after a football game against Cactus High School last October, he was rushed to the hospital. He was pronounced dead the next day, leaving people to wonder why the 17-year-old had died.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner ruled that he died from blunt force trauma and that his death was accidental.

On Wednesday, the medical examiner released a report providing more details.

Sanchez, who had no known history of head trauma, or any significant medical issues, "died of blunt force head trauma sustained while he was playing in a high school tackle football game," according to the report.

The junior running back was not wearing a school-issued helmet though it's not known if that was a contributing factor.

The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which tracks high school football fatalities among other injuries, said that in 2016 there were two deaths among the approximately 1.1 million students in grades 9-12 who played football.

Friends of the family set up a fundraiser for them on GoFundMe, which raised $35,623 before it ended..

Photo of Sanchez via GoFundMe, a Patch partner.