The Euclid community mourned a tragic loss on Sunday after one of its high school football players died from injuries sustained during Friday night’s game.
Andre L. Jackson left the game at Solon after suffering an injury on a kickoff. His death was announced Sunday by school officials.
Jackson was a junior at Euclid High School who was listed as a fullback and outside linebacker on the team’s website. He wore number 48 for the Panthers.
School and community members gathered Sunday night for an impromptu memorial for Jackson, according to Beacon Journal news partner Channel 5.
“This is just a wonderful boy,” Euclid coach Jeff Rotsky said in a video taken by a Channel 5 reporter. “This is a young man that had the whole world in front of him. …Anyone that knew Andre Jackson knew him for always being there. … But most importantly, the young man had a smile that warmed your heart the second you saw him.”
Jackson listed his favorite subject as math.
Rotsky said Jackson had begun to blossom since he knew him.
“When we got here, Andre wasn’t sure what he was going to do,” Rotsky said. “All of the sudden, he just started to blossom. He just started to believe in himself and he started to see himself have really incredible improvement and success in the classroom. As a coach and a mentor … that’s what you dream about.”
Rotsky said he doesn’t know when the football team will take the field next, but he doubts it will be next Friday against Mentor.
Jackson suffered the fatal injury while making a play during a kickoff on special teams, according to Rotsky.
“There was a [squib] kick and he was just going for the ball, and one of their guys was going for the ball,” Rotsky said. “I think he got kicked or kneed or something like that. It was a completely normal play.”
Rotsky, who is in his second year as Euclid’s coach, said he’s never dealt with anything like this before.
“I want people to know that this community just lost such a special boy, and he’s irreplaceable. There will never be — there will never be — a smile like Andre Jackson’s.”