Football: Garden Grove tragedy hits home at Boron
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The death of Garden Grove fullback-linebacker Kevin Telles on Friday night served as a painful reminder of what can go wrong on a high school football field for coaches and players at Boron.
It was one year ago Saturday that sophomore safety and running back Vinnie Rodriguez suffered catastrophic head injuries during a game against California Riverside School for the Deaf. He died four days later.
‘It’s a terrible thing to drag with you over the course of a year,’ Boron Coach Todd Fink said. ‘I’ve been there. It’s devastating.’
The Bobcats endured another frightening moment Friday when an opposing player from California City suffered a neck injury. But Fink said the player was alert and moving and appeared to be OK.
Fink said he visits with Rodriguez’s grandmother every Sunday, and the Bobcats still wear stickers on their helmets as a tribute to their fallen teammate.
‘We feel he will be with us through the whole year,’ said Fink, whose team is 2-0 and has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 107-0.
--Ben Bolch