Former Linn-Mar star Mark Atwater was injured during Coe's home football game at Clark Field Saturday afternoon and taken to St. Luke's Hospital for treatment.

Atwater was hurt on a running play in the third quarter when he was tackled near his neck and head while trying for extra yards and a first down.

He lay motionless on the ground while Dr. Dustin Arnold and Coe trainers examined him. He was removed from the field on a stretcher and transported by ambulance to St. Luke's.

Larry Atwater, Mark's father and a Coe assistant coach, said the initial diagnosis was a sprained neck and concussion. Atwater, Coe's No. 2 quarterback, was able to move all his extremities while being examined and remained conscious.

"I think it's a sprained neck. That's what Dr. Arnold said," Larry Atwater remarked before heading to the hospital. "Kind of like a whiplash thing. He got his head smashed back. Probably a slight concussion. That's really all I know.

"Dr. Arnold feels he's going to be OK."

Atwater threw a 2-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and carried the ball three times for 20 years as the 24th-ranked Kohawks demolished Loras, 69-7, in an Iowa Conference game.

The stadium grew completely quiet as Atwater, a freshman, was being examined on the field. Players from both teams knelt on one knee as Atwater was being treated on the far sideline in front of the Loras bench.

Jordan Atwater, Mark's older brother and a defensive back for the Kohawks, initially paced along the Coe sideline and then joined his parents, Larry and Sue, at Mark's side.

"He was conscious," Jordan Atwater said. "He could move his hands and stuff. They just didn't want to move him."

One Loras defender was tackling Atwater by the legs when another defender arrived and hit Atwater near the neck and head as Atwater was straining for a first down.

"Somebody had him low and he tried to go for it and they went helmet to helmet," Jordan Atwater said. "It bent his neck back real bad. It was just a football play."

It took about 15 minutes for Dr. Arnold and the trainers to examine Atwater and then move him into a waiting ambulance for the short trip to St. Luke's down the street in northeast Cedar Rapids.

"He squeezed my hand before he left," Jordan Atwater said. "At the hospital, they said he had movement in all his arms and legs, so he's good as far as that goes."

Jordan Atwater had a helpless feeling as he watched his brother -- and his teammate -- being treated on the field before a silent crowd and two anxious teams.

"It stinks," he said. "I always think he's going to get up, because he's so tough. But on that one he got hit pretty hard."

Mark Atwater was an all-state football player and state runnerup in wrestling at Linn-Mar during the 2011-12 school year.

Larry Atwater left his spot in the pressbox to check on his son.

"When I got down to the field he was able to move everything," Larry Atwater said. "He got hit pretty hard. It was probably the third guy that came in that just cleaned his clock.

"This is not high school, where he was bigger than most guys," Atwater said. "There are a lot of guys out there who are big themselves.

"These are going to be lessons. You have to get down and protect yourself."

Coe Coach Steve Staker said Atwater's injury put a damper on the big victory.

"It's not a fun thing to see happen and you hope for the best," Staker said. "Just a good, hard hit. That's all. That happens sometimes.

"He got hit high. He (the defender) bent him backwards. He got a good shot on his head and neck. It was pretty vicious.

"He was conscious and talking," Staker said. "He's going to have a stiff neck, I'm sure, and deal with a concussion. Hopefuly he's going to be all right."