WAKEFIELD, MASS. (WHDH) - A 16-year-old Northeast Metro Tech football player is recovering in the hospital after he was seriously injured in a collision during a junior varsity game in Wakefield on Saturday, officials said.

Emergency crews responding a report of an unconscious person on the high school’s football field around 10:30 a.m. provided medical care to the teenager before the ambulance arrived.

The teenager, whose name has not been released, was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. He is alive and recovering, according to school officials.

“We’re still investigating how it came about but we know it was during a play,” DiBarri said. “It was not a direct head-to-head injury, at some point his had must have had some impact but we’re not completely sure.”

The Wakefield community is now banding together in support of the injured player.

“It’s one of your worst days ever when one of your kids get hurt like that, you just hope that he’s going to be OK,” said parent Joe Zdanowicz, whose two children play football for another team.

Guidance counselors will be available to support the football team and other students in the wake of the incident, according to DiBarri.

“At this point, the focus is on prayers for his family and his recovery,” he said.

The game against Saugus High School was suspended following the incident and an investigation remains ongoing.

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