The New Jersey high school quarterback who died Friday after being injured during a varsity football game suffered "massive internal bleeding," the Morris County Medical Examiner’s Office said Monday.
The hemorrhage that killed Evan Murray, a senior at Warren Hills Regional High School, was caused by a lacerated spleen that became "abnormally enlarged thus making it more susceptible to injury," County Medical Examiner Ronald Suarez said in a statement.
Suarez, who conducted the autopsy Friday, noted that there was no evidence of head trauma, and ruled the 17-year-old's death accidental.
A classmate who was watching the game on Friday, William Heerwagen, described the hit that sent Murray off the field as "a normal tackle."
"We thought at worse it was a concussion and that we'd see him Monday," Heerwagen said.
Murray also played basketball and baseball, and he was expected to be on Warren Hills' Homecoming Court this week. After his death, a teammate, Mark Formichelli, described Murray as a "true hometown hero" and "the face of the school."
"You'll be missed," Formichelli Tweeted. "You'll always be the leader of this team."