A Pennsylvania high school football player died after collapsing during a game

• A Jersey Shore High School football player died after collapsing on the field.
• Max Engle, 17, died after a week in the hospital, his family said.

A high school football player in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, has died after collapsing during a football game earlier this month, his family said.

Max Engle's family announced his death in a Facebook post on Saturday.

"Max has been fighting hard throughout this week, but he needed to move on to fulfill a greater purpose," the family said in a joint statement.

Engle, 17, collapsed during a football game between Jersey Shore High School and Selinsgrove High School on September 8, according to The Daily Item, a local Pennsylvania newspaper

Engle's family described him as a "warrior" on the football field who was fiercely loyal to his team and coaches.

"He will be greatly missed every single day and we know he will be with us in everything we do," the family said.

The Jersey Shore Area School District said in a statement it postponed its next football game out of respect for Engle's family.

"We will play again, but our players and the rest of the Bulldogs need some time," the school district said.

Engle's cause of death is unclear, but cardiac arrest had been a leading cause of death for high school and college athletes.

In August, a top high school basketball player died in Pinson, Alabama, after going into cardiac arrest during a school workout.

For people under 30, cardiac arrest is rare, but athletes can be at risk during intense competition. The 24-year-old Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field in January during a game in Cincinnati. Another high school football player in Scottsdale, Arizona, was sidelined this summer after going into cardiac arrest during a workout.

LeBron James's son, Bronny James, was also rushed to the ICU last month after going into cardiac arrest during a practice at the University of Southern California, where he was expected to play this year. Another USC player, Vince Iwuchukwu, also went into sudden cardiac arrest during a practice in July 2022, according to CNN.

One study published in 2020 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that Black, male, NCAA Division I basketball players had the highest incidence rate of sudden cardiac arrest and death among athletes 11 to 29 years old.

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Keyontae Johnson also collapsed on the court during a game in 2020 while he was playing for the University of Florida.

Johnson later declined a $5 million insurance payout from the NCAA that would have required him to quit playing college basketball after the incident, according to USA Today. Johnson only saw time in five games at Florida the following two years before transferring to Kansas State where he became a third-team All-American.