Kalamazoo Central player leaps onto Lakeshore student fractures spine

A junior varsity football game in Kalamazoo County turned violent last Thursday when a larger player jumped on a smaller opponent after a play, fracturing the younger player’s spine in two places and ending his season, officials and the boy’s family said. The injured 15 year old, identified by his mother as Colton and described by school officials as a Lakeshore student, was carried off the field and taken to a hospital before being released to recover at home on medication.

Video taken from the stands and circulated widely shows players from both teams colliding as a play ends. The clip then appears to show a Kalamazoo Central player climb off a pileup, stand, and leap back down onto the prone player, flattening him under his body weight. The act drew immediate condemnation from school leaders and prompted an internal response by the two districts and the state athletics association.

Colton’s mother said she was at the game and rushed onto the field when she realized her son had been hurt. She described the moment as the most shaken she has ever felt and said doctors found two fractures in his spine. He has been prescribed muscle relaxers and will not return this season, she...