UNION CITY, CA : James Logan car crash tragedy: 'This stretches farther than our school.' on Tuesday, 6th September 2016

James Logan High students got back into their routine Tuesday, navigating through a dark cloud that shattered the previous routine forever.

Two students at the school seniors Izaiah Mease and Joe Ioramo died in a car crash on Interstate 880 early Sunday. Another student, senior Izaiah Paopao, survived and is expected to be OK.

On the school's first day of classes since the tragedy, teary-eyed students shared hugs and quiet words amid a memorial set up just outside the campus. Eleven counselors were available on campus for grieving students and staff, and counselors set aside a room for students too overcome with the sadness of it."I think we're all still in shock," first-year football coach Zach McNally said. "We're all beginning the grieving process and supporting one another. This stretches farther than our school."

Grief counselors awaited students and teachers, and a bouquets of flowers lay on a cement pole surrounded by candles Monday. One sign hanging on a nearby fence read, "Rest in Love."

The California Highway Patrol is investigating the crash, which happened in the southbound lanes of I-880 near the West A Street on-ramp around 1:25 a.m. Mease drove the car that crashed, according to officials.

Mease, known better around the school as "Mease Dog," was one of the school's best-known students, according to his coach, and carried himself as a natural leader among his peers.

"There really are no words that can adequately describe a kid like Mease Dog," McNally said of his 5-foot-5 linebacker. "He was just a natural-born leader with an innate ability to communicate with everybody. He was small in size, but his personality and work ethic made him seem 7 feet tall. I don't have a son, but if I do someday, Izaiah had what I would want in him."

Mease didn't play in James Logan's first two games this season, because he was rehabilitating an injury, McNally said. The Colts will play Friday's contest at Freedom High in Oakley, and McNally said they will dedicate the rest of the season to the three students.

Ioramo, better known as "Junior," didn't play football this season, choosing instead to focus on his academics. Yet, McNally called him a "huge part" of the football community, as well as the school's.

"He was at a point in his life where he was in a great place,"McNally said. "He had focus. He had direction, and he had a great future ahead of him."

Paopao received serious injuries in the crash, but was expected to recover."He's awake," said George Zuber, an economics teacher at the school and the former football coach at the school. "When he found out I was coming, he was concerned about his economics homework. I took that as a good sign."

Students held a vigil on campus Monday night, but it was not known immediately what other observances may take place.

"It's heartbreaking," Zuber said. "When young people are taken, it just hurts everyone so much more."

Source :
James Logan car crash tragedy: 'This stretches farther than our school.'