Alexander Coppock Tribute

A passerby discovered an early morning crash that killed two Newberry High School students early Sunday, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

Alexander Coppock, including friend Richard Jaggers, both 18, were found thrown from a 1997 four-door Saturn that ended up in a field after running off State Road 24, according to troopers. Officers could not immediately determine who had been driving the car or when the single-vehicle wreck occurred. Neither of the car''s occupants, who died at the scene, had been wearing a seat belt.

The two had been seniors at the school, family and others confirmed.

Coppock had been a member of the high school''s football team, which gathered at the football field Sunday evening after learning about the death. A 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior, Coppock played defensive end for the school last season, helping the Panthers to the Class 2B state title game. He was named second team all-state and to The Sun''s Class A-2A first-team defense after last season.