Ed Dawson, the head football coach at Cornell High School died after a medical emergency during the game on Friday.
We lost a great guy.
Sacco said of Dawson “Cornell will grieve for a long time. I am not sure how we will get back to where we need to be. I guess we’ll see what happens.”
Dawson reportedly told an assistant coach he was not feeling well during the second quarter of the Friday night game. “Next thing you know, he wasn’t moving,” Cornell athletic director Bill Sacco said. He was advised to sit down on the bench, but Dawson ended up lying down there, as per Trib Live. Medical personnel administered CPR to Dawson for several minutes before he was moved to the hospital, where he passed away. There are no public records or reports of Dawson suffering from any underlying condition.
Dawson was named head coach back in 2011. He led Cornell to their first conference championship in 36 years and then into the WPIAL semifinals in 2019. In 2021, Dawson helped Cornell win its first outright conference title in 38 seasons. His career record was 49-54 across 12 seasons and Dawson was named the Times’ high school football coach of the year in 2019. Before coaching, Dawson was a standout linebacker for Aliquippa’s 1992 WPIAL and PIAA championship teams.
Cornell School District Superintendent Aaron Thomas announced the news of Dawson’s passing.
Yet another said “Ed was a great coach, a better person! He noted that the coach had been taken to a local hospital after he suffered a medical emergency during the team game at Rochester High School in Beaver County. Dawson later died, the statement noted. Praying for his soul and his family and the Cornell Raiders, terrible loss.
