West Caldwell Police Chief Charles Tubbs said James Bliss was taking part in a regular after-school practice and after catching a pass and being tackled, he got up to walk over to a bench and collapsed face-first onto the field. A team doctor who was on the field responded to the teen and checked for a pulse, then coaches called 911 at 4:17 p.m., the chief said. The boy then went into cardiac arrest, Tubbs said. When West Caldwell police officers arrived, they treated him with an automatic defibrillator. Bliss was then taken by ambulance to Mountainside Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 4:45 p.m.

Superintendent Dan Gerardi, who oversees the school district for Caldwell and West Caldwell students, said the boy had no known medical conditions and had passed a physical before being allowed to play football. "We're trying to piece together what happened," Gerardi said. "It was right on the field."