Bonita High Player Dies After Injury

Sam Bonanno, a running back-linebacker at Bonita High School in La Verne, died Monday morning in West Covina from massive head injuries suffered in last Thursday’s football game against Gahr High of Cerritos.

Bonanno, 18, was injured when tackled late in the fourth quarter. He was taken from the field to Pomona Valley Hospital and, later that night, was transferred to Queen of the Valley Hospital. There, he was put on life-support systems but died at 4:27 a.m. Monday. His family was present.

Juan Jiminez, a supervising deputy coroner for Los Angeles County, said an autopsy will be performed in the next few days.

The Associated Press reported that the 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior was injured when he was gang tackled by members of the Gahr defense with about five minutes left in the game. Bonita Coach Tom Young, however, said Monday night that the hit was legitimate.

“One thing that I want to clear up is that there was nothing malicious or illegal by the Gahr players, nothing true about the spearing and all that,” he said. “I know the Gahr kids must be going through hell right now. . . . I reviewed the game films and know for sure that the Gahr players did not try to harm him.

“There wasn’t anything abnormal about the play. I gave it (the film) to the police today (for help in the autopsy) and they were real surprised at the type of hit that did it.

“My concerns now are with Sam’s parents and their wishes. I said I would respect them all and do whatever they wanted and they really don’t want anything said now about Sam.”

Bill Brinegar, an assistant principal at Bonita, agreed with Young’s assessment of the tackle.

“It was a one-on-one tackle, and based on what we have seen in the films . . . there was nothing illegal or particularly violent about the hit,” he told the Associated Press.

On Friday, several players and coaches from Gahr telephoned Bonita to express their concern. The Bonita team, along with the cheerleaders, held a meeting Friday night to discuss the incident, to get an update on Bonanno’s condition and get their feelings into the open. According to Young, most stayed until 2 or 3 a.m. Saturday.

It was the second death of an area high school football player in the last 11 days. Jeff Chai, an offensive lineman at Hawthorne High, died from a heart disease of unknown origin after collapsing during his team’s Oct. 31 game against Culver City High.

Times staff writer Nieson Himmel contributed to this story.