Fans got a fright under the Friday night lights of the Lewis County Panther football game against Mt. Pleasant. As Lewis County came out of an offensive huddle in the second half, a player from the opposing team collapsed, face-down on the field. After a collective gasp, Bobby W. Sharp Stadium became silent in reverence while a Mt. Pleasant coach led each side in a prayer for the player.

The player whose name has been concealed due to his being a minor, suffered a concussion from a recent car crash, and the instance is believed to be due to that injury.

"There's no reason it should take twenty minutes for EMS to arrive!" and "What a failure on Maury Regional's part for not having an ambulance on the premises!" were just two of the many statements made regarding the response time Friday night.

At Monday night's commission meeting, Caleb Feichtinger brought these to the attention of EMS Director Michael Dunavant. "First, I think it is important that we address the gossip and incorrect information being spread throughout the community," said Dunavant. "I have received numerous screenshots of people talking about Friday night. It did not take 18-20 minutes for us to respond on the scene, as so many people are saying. According to our CAD system, which is unable to be altered or edited in any way, time stamping shows the emergency call was made at 20:46, EMS was dispatched at 20:47, and we arrived on the scene at Lewis County High School at 20:54."

Feichtinger then asked why EMS was not planted on the scene as expected. "TSSAA Guidelines policy states it is the school's responsibility and requirement to request an EMS presence for any event. That has to be done through our website, and that has not been done for any 2023 game," said Dunavant.

Director of Schools Tracy McAbee was in attendance and took responsibility on behalf of the school system for the shortcoming. He ensured that the request will be made for every game going forward and apologized for not ensuring this had been previously taken care of.

Thankfully, the player was able to be stabilized and was carried off in a cot by EMS, Lewis County Rescue, and Hohenwald City Police, while the Lewis County Band led the stands in a "Connor, Connor, Connor," chant.