Sunday, November 01, 2009
Watertown Red and Black starting center dies in car accident
Watertown Red and Black starting center dies in car accident
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2009
ARTICLE OPTIONS
David G. Towles, 21, the starting center for the Watertown Red and Black football team, was killed early Saturday when the sedan he was driving southbound on Fuller Road left the road and struck a tree.
He was transported by ambulance to Samaritan Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Earlier this month, Mr. Towles, of 16639 Lemay Road, earned first-team honors from the Empire Football League. He also received a sportsmanship award from the league in 2008, his first year on the team.
"He was an all-around good guy," Red and Black Coach George Ashcraft said. "It's a tough thing. I know accidents happen, but in all my years coaching, having a player or coach leave on such sudden terms, it's hard. He was a great, great kid."
Mr. Ashcraft said Mr. Towles would bring his large Rottweiler to practices and stick around afterward to chat with teammates.
The coach said 25 to 30 Red and Black players had stopped by his house by 5 p.m. Thursday.
"These guys work together," Mr. Ashcraft said. "The lineman, all five, six, seven of them, they do everything together. You talk about cooperation and working together but these guys actually made it happen."
The coach said players and coaches will sign a number 56 jersey — the number worn by Mr. Towles — and present it to the family.
"Anything we can do to help the family with this, we'll do," he said.
State police are still investigating the cause of the accident. Mr. Towles was the sole occupant of the vehicle at the time of the accident, troopers said.
