A high school is in mourning over the tragic loss of a star athlete and beloved student. 

Caden Tellier, a quarterback for John T. Morgan Academy in Selma, Alabama, died following a head injury during the school’s Aug. 23 football game. He was 16. 

“It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that Caden Tellier has gone to be with his Lord and Savior,” Dr. Bryan Oliver, the school’s headmaster, wrote in a Facebook post Aug. 24. “Caden loved the Lord with all his heart and was a shining light every day he graced the halls of Morgan Academy."

Oliver emphasized the impact the 16-year-old—who was a member of Morgan Academy’s football and baseball teams—had on his fellow classmates.

“There are no words to describe how we feel as a school community and family,” Oliver’s statement continued. “Caden will never be forgotten for who he was and what he means to the Morgan family.”

Tellier’s official cause of death has not been confirmed by authorities. He was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition after being tackled to the ground during his school’s season opening game when it became apparent something was “seriously wrong,” school officials told TMZ. 

Alabama Independent School Association Executive Director Michael McLendon later explained in a statement that Tellier “likely suffered a ruptured blood vessel” in his brain following a “routine play.” 

He added the crowd watching the game “likely did not witness anything unusual,” in the play that caused Tellier’s head injury. 

The late football player is survived by his parents Jamie Tellier and Arsella Tellier as well as his 12-year-old sister Lyla. Following the tragedy his mom shared her own heartfelt message on social media.

“Everyone who knows Caden has known kindness, generosity and love, and true to his nature, he is giving of himself one more time,” she wrote. “Lives have been touched by the way he lived and now lives will be saved through his passing. We will walk out these next few days alongside him in his earthly body knowing that his spirit is rejoicing in heaven.”

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