A funeral was held for Seventy-First High School football player Evan Raines Friday morning at Kingdom Impact Ministries in Fayetteville.
Hundreds of people packed the church wanting to pay respects to the 16 year old.
His parents were the first to arrive to the morning service for their first born son. Raines' teammates, who arrived in one large group, were also in attendance and wore their jerseys.
The players and cheerleaders were at last Saturday morning's practice when Raines collapsed and later died.
"This is a young life that is just hushed up now," said June Mosley, who attended Friday's service on behalf of her daughter who went to school with Raines. "She said he was always fun loving, getting in trouble but good trouble, if you will. Not behavioral problems, but a lot of laughing and joking with people."
That is exactly how Raines' parents described him -- someone who always had a smile and absolutely loved playing football.
"He either wanted to go into sports medicine or become a pediatrician, because he loved babies, and babies loved him," Raines' father Rodney Raines told ABC11 in a previous interview. "The neighbors' children always liked Evan."
Mosley said she was thankful she could attend Friday's service to show support for the family.
"It's their child, you know, understanding the loss of a loved one, definitely not a child, but of a loved one and the importance of supporting the family," she said. "It blessed me to see the football team and the students coming in and I think that will help the family through this process of transition."
Raines was listed on last year's Seventy-First roster as a 6-foot-1, 210-pound defensive end.
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