A spate of serious injuries to Pennsylvania high school football players has raised some concerns, but medical experts said the spike is not yet a trend and could just reflect the sport’s risks.

“My sense is it’s a cyclical thing,” said Dr. Rob Gallo, an orthopedic sports medicine specialist at Penn State Health in Hershey, adding that cell phones and social media make it easier than ever to quickly spread video, photos and stories about injuries.

“I don’t think football is inherently more dangerous now than it was 10 years ago, or it was last year,” Gallo said.

Nicole Cattano, an associate professor and athletic trainer at West Chester University in Chester County, said she also wondered about the rash of injuries reported from high school football games.

“I asked that very question to some colleagues over the weekend because we saw the reports and I was like, ‘What is going on?’” she said.

Cattano, the president of the Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers’ Society, said she looked at historical injury data up to 2022 and found that the rate of injuries has remained about the same.

She agreed with Gallo that social media has contributed to more people hearing about injuries occurring in high school games.

“I do think a little bit more attention is being paid to what’s going on,” Cattano said.

Two weeks ago, Mason Martin, a player for Karns City Area High School in Butler County, crumpled to the field with a brain bleed and collapsed lung. He remains in a Pittsburgh hospital fighting for his life.

Then this past weekend saw Jersey Shore player Max Engle collapse and be rushed to the hospital in critical condition. On Tuesday, the district superintendent released a statement saying that Engle’s condition had “rapidly declined” and this his prognosis was “not good.”

Those were the most serious incidents in recent weeks, but certainly not the only ones that stunned parents, teammates and fans.

Antwan Black, a highly recruited player from Laurel Highlands, was flown to a hospital after a hit caused him to temporarily lose feeling in his legs, reported WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh. Black has since been released.

Shenango’s Michael Egetoe was flown to a hospital after suffering a concussion and swelling around a cervical vertebrae, his mother told WTAE.

“This is something every parent worries about when their kid goes into a contact sport, but it’s something that you sign up for,” said Kristina Egetoe. “We want to be back on the field when it’s safe, when it’s best for him so he can be back with his football family. You pray and you hope that they walk away from every single game and there is no injury.”

According to the New Castle News, Egetoe was released and visited his team at practice on Monday.

Oil City’s Hayden Wilson has since been released from UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh after he was stretchered off the field Friday in a neck brace, reported The Derrick newspaper.

WTAE reported that a player for Sto-Rox, near Pittsburgh, was taken to a hospital Friday and was diagnosed with a concussion and released, and that a Greater Latrobe freshman was flown to a hospital Monday with an unspecified injury.

Gallo said players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before and that might also be contributing to more concerning injuries, something parents need to consider.

“Sports are different now than they were 20, 30 years ago,” Cattano said.

“Football is an inherently dangerous sport. As a contact sport, you have to accept that that’s going to be part of the risk,” Gallo said. “You have to determine for you and your family if the benefits of playing football are worth it.”

In an opinion piece on OrthoInfo, a site of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Dr. Matthew Matava of Washington University Orthopedics in Missouri wrote in 2019 that the most common injury among high school football players are ligament sprains.

Matava said that spinal cord injuries are “uncommon,” but are still a “significant concern” because of football’s violent nature. Rule changes and better tackling training have helped reduce the number of those injuries, he wrote.

Concussions remain a concern because high school players who are concussed are three times more likely to suffer another concussion in the same season, making it vital to recognize signs and symptoms as early as possible.

Matava said one of the ways to reduce the impact of serious injuries is to have more medical professionals, “especially certified athletic trainers,” at games so they can quickly respond to incidents.

Cattano echoed that, saying she would tell parents to “make sure that there is appropriate healthcare personnel (at games), that being an athletic trainer, as well as emergency action plans in place.”

The case of Buffalo Bills’ player Damar Hamlin, a native of McKees Rocks in Allegheny County, that involved athletic trainers rushing to help him after he collapsed unresponsive on the field in January has raised everyone’s awareness about a fast response, she said.

“We’re 100 percent prepared to act in these emergency situations,” Cattano said, adding that athletic trainers game plan for incidents just like coaches prepare for opponents.

“It’s not enough to just have a plan,” she said, “but you have to practice it and be prepared to act.”