Mainland (Linwood, N.J.) football team struck by tragedy on Garden State Parkway.
Four
Mainland Regional (Linwood, N.J.) students were killed in a car accident on the Garden State Parkway, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
The driver and three passengers were killed. Four other people were in the Ford Explorer at the time of the accident, according to reports.
The four people killed in the accident that took place at 11:45 a.m. were all football players. They were all heading to breakfast after practice.
According to the Press of Atlantic City, the players were Edgar Bozzi, 16, Casey Brenner, 17, Dean Khoury, 15, and Nick Conner, 16. Three of the victims died at the scene and a fourth passed at a hospital in Atlantic City.
The accident occurred near the ramp at exit 38 A, less than five miles from the high school. Mainland head coach Bob Coffey was notified by a parent shortly after the accident and helped identify the players, a source told MaxPreps.
Edgar's brother Michael Bozzi, a graduate of Mainland Regional, told reporters that the breakfast is a tradition that all players and coaches partake in after Saturday practices.
"We pretty much sit together and hang out - eat, talk and laugh," he said. "We go out as a team, as a family, and it's kind of a bonding thing before the season gets off."
The New Jersey State Police were not immediately available for comment.
Mainland is traditionally one of South Jersey's strongest programs. The Mustangs finished 7-3 last year and were expected to improve in 2011. The team is scheduled to open the season Sept. 9 against Hammonton.
