Latest news, weather and high school sports for Albany and Southwest Georgia

ALBANY, GA -- "He came off the field, he was smiling and he ran by me and I said 'good job' or something and I started looking at the special team for an extra point and I looked over and he’s on the ground," said Dan Hooks, head football coach at West Orange Stark High School in Texas. 

Hooks is struggling to come to terms with the death of the team’s star quarterback.

17-year-old senior Reginald Garrett had just thrown a touchdown pass in Friday night’s game before collapsing on the sidelines.

Last weekend in Oregon, another player collapsed after a 45-yard run, his life saved by a cardiac nurse who happened to be in the stands.

The frightening similarities have many asking: Could it happen here?

Henry Rivers, Director of Sports Medicine for Dougherty County, says all student athletes are given a thorough physical examination before they ever step on the field.

"If there are any issues, such as they have a heart murmur, something like that, we send them to their primary care doctor," said Rivers.

A second exam would then be required before the player is given the green light.

Days with temperatures reaching into the upper 90’s raise another concern – heat stroke. Dougherty County officials say their student athletes are closely monitored for any ill effects from oppressive conditions.

"We have our heat policy here for the Dougherty County School System, which, if the heat index is 105, we don’t practice," said Rivers.

And if the worst should happen . . .

"We’re at every game here at the stadium," said Rivers. "We have two certified athletic trainers, EMS, and most all the time, doctors as well on the sidelines."