against chicago vocational. but at 6:00 p.m. central time, the 17-year-old was fighting for his life in a chicago fire department ambulance bound for a hospital. and that's where he died early fridays. >> it is unfortunate for him to pass doing something that he really loved doing. >> reporter: school officials are not saying what happened, but social media initially reported smith had been blinded sided during the contest. a stadium announcer who witnessed the injury to smith told the time that it occurred on bogan's last play of the game. smith was running in a kick return formation and was blocked by an opponent. he walked to the sidelines after the play but collapsed moments later and lost consciousness, said the witness. the player's brother is eric smith. >> i didn't know what to do. it just killed everything inside of me. >> reporter: andre smith is the seventh high school football player nationwide to die this year, and every death rekindles a debate about whether the sport, played by a million