Crab Apple Fells Player Thrown Object Levels Db After Rivals Complete Game

It was an ending that an outstanding prep football game didn’t deserve.

As Lake City and Coeur d’Alene began shaking hands Friday night following the Timberwolves’ dramatic 29-19 comeback win, Vikings junior defensive back Chris Goodwin suddenly collapsed on the field.

Goodwin apparently was hit in the neck with an object, believed to be a crab apple, thrown into the mass of players.

“He got hit on the left side of his cervical spine,” said Coeur d’Alene physical therapist Lee Shellman, a fixture on the Vikings’ sideline for decades who tended to Goodwin.

“He went down just like a ton. He had numbness through the left side of his face and neck, but he didn’t have any loss of sensation in his hands at all and he was able to move everything. So we’re reasonably confident that everything is going to be fine.”

Complicating matters was the fact that an ambulance available for the game departed right at the conclusion of the contest. Goodwin was on the ground for nearly 25 minutes before an ambulance returned to the field. Goodwin was immobilized, placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. The surreal ending spoiled an otherwise fine football game. Stunned players, coaches and fans of both teams milled around the field for nearly an hour after the game.

“This takes away a lot because this was by far the greatest football game in Coeur d’Alene in a long time,” Lake City coach Van Troxel said, as an ambulance arrived to assist Goodwin. “It was a great crowd, the people were wonderful, the hype for the game was wonderful. To have it end in this manner, somebody doing something stupid, is a crying shame.

“It’s gotta end right now.”

Vikings coach Shawn Amos agreed. “We think (Goodwin) is going to be OK. It’s too bad because it was a hard-fought battle on the field and to have some idiot throw something is embarrassing.”

LC running back Doug Blaty said the ending made it impossible to celebrate a huge win over the rival Vikings.

“Something like this happened against Sandpoint in basketball a couple years ago,” said Blaty, referring to a postgame incident in which a Sandpoint student suffered a fractured skull after being hit by a rock. Several Woodland Middle School and Lake City High students were arrested.

“We represent Lake City and the fans go out and do something stupid. I feel really sorry for (Goodwin),” Blaty added. “I mean, we can’t just go and win the game and walk away?”