PORTAGE - At any time of day, Jim McCloskey can step onto his front porch and see cars flying through the dips on Shady Springs Road, known locally as ''Roller Coaster Road.''
Drivers speed down the road to try to go airborne off the crest of the hills, McCloskey said.
"It's a fun road for the kids,'' he said. ''It sort of makes your stomach tickle.''
McCloskey has seen his fair share of minor accidents on the narrow shortcut through Portage Township, but he'll never forget the horrific scene he woke up to at 3:30 a.m. Sunday.
A 2003 Chevy Cavalier driving east and a 1989 Chevy pickup truck driving west collided head-on in front of McCloskey's house, waking nearby residents with a tremendous bang.
McCloskey said visions of the car wedged halfway under the truck in the darkness will stay with him forever.
''Yesterday, I started wearing my seat belt again,'' he said. ''It's just unreal that those two cars ended up right there, right at that time of night.''
The crash took the lives of four former Portage Area High School students: driver Richard J. McKrush Jr., 22; Joseph Gordon Maximillion Krug Jr., 25; Eric Paul Secriskey, 25; and Ryan James Zunich, 26.
Their friend, Trevor David Squillario, 24, was riding in the back seat and survived. He is in serious condition at Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown with chest injuries and broken bones.
The doctors and nurses keep telling him how fortunate he is, but they're still waiting to tell him about the fate of his buddies, said his father, David Squillario.
''We feel fortunate, but when we think about those who didn't make it through, we feel bad for those families, and we'll do anything we can to help them,'' he said.
The driver of the truck, James Earl Gaunt, 34, and his two passengers, Bernice Angel Gillette, 30, and Johnny Allen Lauver, 29, all of Portage, also are in serious condition at the hospital.
The crash remains under investigation, but speeding by both drivers and alcohol were factors, said Jeffrey Lees, Cambria County chief deputy coroner.
State police at Ebensburg said McKrush crossed the centerline coming over the hill and hit Gaunt's truck, which also was traveling at a speed higher than the posted 25 mph.
None of the passengers in McKrush's car was wearing a seat belt. Friends say they were on their way home from a night of partying around town.
Jodi Kick, 21, said the close-knit community is reeling from news that four young men are gone. Kick hung out with the group hours before the crash at Bradie's Bar & Grill and said she's in disbelief.
''Everybody knows everybody here, so the viewings are going to be bad for everybody,'' she said.
Krug, Zunich and McKrush were captains of the Mustang football team and likeable guys, said their coach, Gary Gouse.
''I remember people calling me about them saying positive things, and now it's so different,'' Gouse said. ''I have so many good memories of those kids, and it's just awful.''
Krug, a starting center known as ''Gordo,'' was the first football player also to play in the marching band. He served as choir director and organist at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and wanted to become a priest.
He spent two years at a seminary in Columbus, Ohio, before returning to his hometown.
"At football camp, he used to play his accordion at night,'' Gouse said. "He was a really fun kid to be around, and he always had a joke to tell.''
Zunich was a dedicated weightlifter who attended football games after graduation to cheer on the Mustangs. He graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and was employed as a geographic information systems specialist.
''He was a quieter kid, but he had his moments of joking around, but he was serious in the weight room,'' Gouse said.
McKrush, known as ''Rich,'' was a four-year letterman named to The Associated Press Class A first team as an offensive lineman in 2003.
He also wrestled and threw shot put, discus and javelin with the track and field team.
''He had an abundance of talent and was very big and quick,'' Gouse said.
Secriskey was the father of a 6-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son and enjoyed hunting and fishing, said his grandfather Paul Secriskey.
He was expected to start a labor job at the local mines in August.
''He was a good guy, not trouble the way people say he was,'' Secriskey said. ''His favorite thing was to go out and have fun ... he had a lot of friends and loved his kids a lot.''
Although the men were out of high school, they still had ties to the district and its staff, Superintendent Richard Bernazzoli said.
It didn't surprise Bernazzoli that the former classmates kept in touch through the years, even as they moved away and came back.
''Four dead at one time is devastation,'' Bernazzoli said. ''There are no other words to describe it, or ways to comprehend it.''
Mark A. Serenko Funeral Home is handling services for the men, which are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Portage.
Mirror Staff Writer Cori Bolger is at 946-7458.
