Alabama 14-year-old dies after collapsing at football practice: 'He just had a love for sports'

New Brockton High School freshman Semaj Wilkins died after collapsing during football practice Tuesday in Alabama.

The 14-year-old had recently updated his Facebook profile to a photograph of himself on the field wearing his new high school football uniform.

"He said, ‘No, I want to go out for football. Mama, I can hit ‘em, I can hit ‘em.' … He just had a love for sports, period," Wilkins' mother, Regena Johnson-Adams, told WDHN-TV, adding her son loved baseball and basketball too.

Temperatures in the area Tuesday afternoon reached 96 degrees, according to National Weather Service data.

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Coffee County Coroner Arnold Woodham said Wilkins had a medical emergency on the field and was administered CPR before being taken to a hospital. 

"I panicked. I grabbed everything I could think of and ran out. … And I got to that field, and I was devastated because they wouldn’t let me get to my baby," Adams told WDHN about the phone call she received about what had happened.  

Woodham said the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences will conduct an autopsy, and it will likely take several weeks to receive those findings. The cause of death is not yet known.

Woodham said Wilkins collapsed earlier during the practice and suggested the possibility of an underlying medical issue. But, he added, "We will not make a determination until we have the final report."

New Brockton High School will host a vigil Friday night at its football stadium to remember Wilkins and honor his mother.

"Semaj was a young man who brought joy and inspiration to his peers, teammates, coaches, and faculty members. His loss will be deeply felt by everyone who knew him," Coffee County Schools Superintendent Kelly Cobb wrote in a statement on Facebook.

New Brockton is a town of about 1,400 people in southern Alabama near the border of Florida. 

"The New Brockton community is very small. Being in a small rural town in southeast Alabama, everybody knows everybody," Woodham said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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