Central Texas High School football player released from hospital after injury during game

BARTLETT, Texas (KWTX) - A Bartlett ISD football player who got injured during the district’s Homecoming game Friday was released from the hospital Sunday night after both teams came together on the field in support of his recovery.

Bartlett ISD Superintendent Teddy Clevenger said the student, Frankie Gonzales, got hit in the back of his neck and was down for about 30 minutes.

“Two of the Bartlett players went down immediately ensuing one of the plays...whistle’s blew...One of the players was up and moving around and grabbing his knee. The other player was lying face down with his hands on his helmet, just looking face down, couldn’t move.”

The player on the ground was Gonzales, who Clevenger describes as a great example, great leader and a positive individual. Clevenger said EMT‘s and the district’s athletic trainer, Andy Wilson, who is Bartlett ISD’s first athletic trainer, responded immediately.When they cut off Gonzales’s jersey and pads, Clevenger said that is when they knew it was a serious injury.

“Frankie was in good hands, but, immediately, we placed our hands on him and started praying for him,” he said.

The announcer of the game, who is a pastor at Bartlett First Baptist Church, started praying over the speaker.

“As soon as Frankie got loaded up on the stretcher and they started carting him off, Frankie threw his arm up, letting everybody know that he was okay,” Clevenger said.

After an ambulance took Gonzales to the hospital, Clevenger said both teams' coaches decided to stop the game altogether, gather in the middle of the field and pray for Gonzales.

“There were so many different prayers that were said in Spanish and in English, and God was definitely on the move for sure that night,” he said.

Somerville ISD, the opposing team located in Burleson County, and Bartlett ISD coaches, players and fans gathered and took turns praying for Gonzales.

Clevenger said one of the district’s key focuses this school year is faith first, family, then football. He said it was inspiring to see everything come together.

“It was very special for everybody to come together,” he said. “It was an awesome reminder that we’re all children of God and that, with God, all things are possible. We believe fully that this young man is going to fully recover.”

There was an outpouring of support and prayers from communities surrounding Bartlett, including Holland where Bartlett ISD played their homecoming game while their stadium is being built, and across Central Texas throughout the weekend.

On Saturday, Gonzales was awake and moving, still in the hospital for a CT scan, an MRI and tests. Clevenger said the doctors said he had swelling and bulging in three vertebrae.

In an update Sunday evening, Gonzales' mom told KWTX that Frankie was released from the hospital, able to walk. She said he has a long recovery and is set to meet with a neurologist in the coming weeks. He is not allowed to do physical activity right now and must wear a Cervical/neck collar.

“Words can‘t express how grateful and truly truly blessed we are for everyone in our Bartlett community, all our friends, family and complete strangers that prayed over this boy and our family,” Gonzales’s mom, Khrista Gonzales, stated

The district decided to move homecoming festivities, including the dance, to the following week.

This is a developing story.