Monday, Sept. 8, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.
A Boulder City High School football player died last week of a possible drug overdose and three of his teammates were suspended from the team for the season.
Johnny Aquino, 17, a senior and the starting center on the team, died Sunday, Aug. 31, at Boulder City Hospital.
Details surrounding the event were still sketchy this morning, but the three who were suspended allegedly broke rules by being involved in the event that led to the player's death, officials said.
Boulder City Police Sgt. Slade Griffin said a drug overdose "is a good possibility but we're not saying anything definite yet."
There were no signs of foul play in Aquino's death, police said. Griffin said the death appears to have been accidental.
Griffin said police are continuing their investigation and are awaiting the results of toxicology tests from the coroner's office before saying exactly what caused Aquino's death. Those tests could take up to four weeks to complete.
No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the death. Griffin said if the tests show Aquino had drugs in his system police would work to find out where he got them.
Griffin said police were called to the 1300 block of Capri Drive around 2:45 a.m. Aug. 31 to assist on a medical call. When officers arrived on the scene they found the fire department already working on Aquino, Griffin said.
The 1300 block of Capri Drive is a residential area of town houses and some apartments.
Attempts to reach Aquino's family were unsuccessful.
It was unclear what the event was that led to the three players being taken off the team.
Football coach Jeff Knutson said Aquino apparently had a seizure, but the coach said he did not know what caused it. Knutson said he did not know the details of the event first hand because he was not there.
Knutson said the three players were kicked off the team for "violating school district athletic rules," but he would not say which rules were broken, or divulge the names and ages of the three students. All three went to school administrators last Monday to report on their own rule-breaking actions, he said.
He would not say whether those students' actions related to Aquino's death, but he did confirm that the death and rules violations stemmed from the same event.
Knutson would not say whether drugs or alcohol played a part in the incident, but he did point out that he spoke to the players about drugs and alcohol during his end-of-practice message the Friday before Aquino's death.
"I told them you're not just letting yourself down, you're letting the team down. Kids hear it all the time from their parents coaches and television. But the truth is kids are surrounded by tough decisions," Knutson said.
The three students kicked off the team won't play football this season, and Knutson said he did not know if they will be allowed to play sports for the school in the future. The students were not suspended from school because the rules violations occurred after school hours and off school grounds, Knutson said.
Knutson said Aquino's death has had a dramatic impact on the team and the community.
School Principal John Barlow said Aquino was a relatively quiet teen who was well liked and a hard worker.
"It's been difficult. There are a lot of sad faces around," Barlow said.
Knutson said Aquino was a "happy-go-lucky kid" who was well liked.
"It's been pretty tough on the kids and the community as a whole," Knutson said.
Aquino, who worked in the restaurant at Hoover Dam, was the oldest of six children. The family had moved to Boulder City from Riverside, Calif., three years ago.
Attempts to reach the family were unsuccessful.
Aquino was planning to enlist in the military after graduation, and he also had a big impact on the football field, Knutson said.
He was a returning starter this year after earning second team all-conference honors as a junior.
Also, Aquino was an avid weightlifter who last spring came to school almost an hour early four days a week to lift weights. He would then take a weightlifting class later in the day. The training paid off and Knutson said Aquino was not only the strongest player on the team, but probably the strongest student at the school too.
"John was real good," Knutson said.
After funeral services Friday morning, Knutson said there was some discussion about the team's not playing its Friday night game.
"We considered not playing the game, but the one salvation through all this for the kids was they still had each other," Knutson said. "We felt they wanted to practice and wanted to play the game so they could be closest to those who were also the most affected."
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