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It was the first game all year that the senior St. Thomas Aquinas running back had run 100 yards, Head Coach Tarig Holman said of the game at Elizabeth on Friday, Sept. 27.
But then, with about 2.5 minutes left of the third quarter with a 25-point lead against Elizabeth with 8 points, Young went unconscious.
"I was getting ready to call a play. I looked at my play sheet, looked back up, and [Chase] was on the ground," said Holman, in his third season as head coach.
"At that point, it was much larger than football."
The healthcare providers working the game, along with medical professionals within both the St. Thomas Aquinas and Elizabeth High School football families, rushed onto the field, Holman recalled.
Chase was unconscious and unresponsive, "but after some medical attention opened his eyes," Elizabeth City Spokeswoman Ruby Contreras said.
"That was really great for us to be a part of," he said. "I'm very thankful, blessed to have those kinds of people at my disposal as a head coach, and it took something that was obviously really bad that we were able to overcome."
Chase, whose father is coach Chris Young and recently from Newark to North Brunswick, was tested at University Medical Center in Newark. All tests came back normal and Chase was cleared to return home.
As for the final score?
"Both teams decided it would end where it ended," Holman said, 25-8. "The sportsmanship and care that the Elizabeth High School football program exhibited was tremendous."
St. Thomas Aquinas' next game is against Paramus Catholic. Holman says it could be the toughest yet, physically and emotionally.
"Some things are bigger than football," Holman said. "Hopefully our kids can pick themselves up by our bootstraps with a little motivation and intensity, and give a really great effort this weekend."
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