SELMA, Alabama (AP) — An Alabama high school football player who died after suffering serious injuries during a game was remembered at a memorial service Monday as a caring and talented athlete who accomplished much in his 16 years.

Morgan Academy quarterback Caden Tellier died Saturday after being injured during Friday night’s school game against Southern Academy in Selma. Tellier, a 16-year-old junior, suffered a brain injury, according to a statement from the Alabama Independent School Association.

Students, parents and teachers, dressed in school colors of maroon and gold, gathered for a memorial and prayer service in the gymnasium of the small private school. Members of his family sat in the front row of the memorial.

“We’ve received an outpouring of love from everyone in this room, from people all over the country,” Jamie Tellier, the teen’s father, told the community gathered in the gym.

“I could tell you a lot about who my son was, who my son is,” Tellier said. “My son was an exceptional athlete. But what he loved to do most was talk about Jesus.”

He told the school’s football players that he would still be there because “Caden doesn’t want me to stop doing things.”

“Caden was only here 16 years old. But my son has accomplished so much. He has accomplished so much. He has loved,” Tellier said, through tears.

Tellier, the second oldest of nine cousins, would go out of his way to play with the youngest in the group, even when his peers were around, said his grandmother, whom he called Mimi. Before he died, Caden taught his 4-year-old nephew how to throw a baseball, she said.

“We could call him and say, ‘Can you come help us?’ and he was there,” said his grandmother, Dale Dobbs. He would never accept money or stipends for the work he did for the family, she added.

Outside the school, flowers, balloons with his number 17 on his back and notes were placed in the student parking lot in memory of Tellier. “Miss U Buddy,” was scrawled in chalk next to a heart.

Tackle football, at professional, school and youth levels, can cause brain damage. Parents and families must weigh the risks against the opportunities and benefits.

Tellier’s parents said in a social media post announcing their son’s death that he would save lives through organ donation. Bryan Oliver, principal of Morgan Academy, confirmed to al.com that Tellier was an organ donor.

“Anyone who knows Caden knows kindness, generosity and love, and true to his nature, he gives of himself once more. Lives have been touched by the way he lived and now lives will be saved by his passing,” his parents wrote in a social media post announcing his death.

The school is canceling all sports activities for the coming week, including the soccer game scheduled for next Friday at Wilcox Academy.

“The story isn’t about an injury on the field, the story is that we loved Caden, and he loved the Lord,” Oliver said.