Middle Tennessee State wide receiver Kellen Stewart stretchered off field, sent to local hospital
The college football game on Wednesday night between Middle Tennessee State and Jacksonville State took a scary turn in the first half. Middle Tennessee State wide receiver Kellen Stewart was stretchered off the field and sent to a local hospital, after what appeared to be a seemingly normal tackle.
Stewart was down on the field for over 10 minutes, but was moving his extremities.
Check out the video of the play below.
The MTSU EMTs and medical staff stabilized his head in case of a spinal injury.
He had one catch for seven yards in Wednesday night’s C-USA matchup, before exiting the game with his injury.
In 2022, Stewart played for the Austin Peay Governors, before transferring to the Blue Raiders. Last year for Austin Peay, he hauled in 12 catches for 181 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He also tacked on a 19-yard rushing touchdown. Stewart also had a limited role on kick return, with 5 attempts for 123 yards.
This year for MTSU, he had one catch, one carry, and returned two kickoffs for twenty yards.
Once he left the game, Jacksonville State football’s Twitter page sent a message of support.
“Wishing the best for MTSU’s Kellen Stewart, we stand together as brothers on this competitive field.”
In high school, Stewart played as a quarterback for B.F. Terry High School, racking up 2,239 all-purpose yards and 27 total touchdowns in 2020. He racked up 1,360 yards on the ground and 879 yards passing through the air.
A versatile track athlete, Stewart also competed in the triple jump in high school, the 4×100 meter relay, the 4×200 meter relay, and the 200-meter dash.
The Blue Raiders led the game 23-7 at halftime. The Gamecocks could found no answer to stop the connection between quarterback Nicholas Vattiato and wide receiver Elijah Metcalf. Metcalf hauled in 90 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Vattiato had over 270 passing yards in the first half, and that’s not even counting a deep ball that was dropped by one of his receivers.
The Gamecocks picked off a pass from Vattiato in the third quarter, which ultimately led to them scoring a touchdown. Jacksonville State cut the MTSU lead to 23-14, after quarterback Zion Webb connected with tight end Sean Brown on a couple of critical passes. One of those was a 10-yard touchdown toss, after a MTSU defender was ejected from the game for targeting.
Jacksonville State continued to mount their comeback, cutting the MTSU lead to 23-21 with 5:21 in the third quarter after a muffed punt.