Mainland Memorializes Fallen Classmates

Mustangs forever.

That’s how the Mainland Regional community would like to remember Casey Brenner, Dean Khoury, Edgar Bozzi and Nicholas Conner, the four football teammates and classmates who tragically perished in an automobile accident on Aug. 20, 2011. Thanks to measures taken by the school’s senior class, the sentiment is etched in stone.

Mainland dedicated a memorial in honor of the young men during a ceremony on Tuesday, June 19. A stone bench and a large rock mounted with a green plaque were placed directly next to the entrance to the football field, creating a shrine that will last as long as the school does.

The plague is engraved with all four names and features the high school’s football logo. The phrases “Never Forget” and “Mustangs Forever” are engraved above the names, along with the date of the accident.

Written underneath of the names is a brief dedication. It reads, “Love, your friends and the Class of 2012.”

“The rock signifies sturdiness, steadiness… it’s our Rock of Gibraltar,” Mainland athletic director Mike Gatley said. “Twenty years down the road, there will be a student here who has questions about what happened. The memorial will help tell that story.”

For now, it helps continue the healing.

A large crowd gathered for the event, including family members of the deceased. Each of the four young men were members of the Mustangs football squad and were en route to a traditional team breakfast in Mays Landing when the 2002 Ford Explorer they were driving in overturned near exit 38A southbound on the Garden State Parkway.

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