A young Widefield teacher was among three people killed early Saturday when their car went off a road near Telluride and rolled down a rocky, steep embankment.

Edward Raymond Bollman, a Watson Junior High School teacher who this fall was to move to Widefield High School to coach girls’ varsity volleyball and teach math, was identified as the driver in the single-car crash, the Colorado State Patrol said.

Bollman, 23, was driving a 2011 Chevy Cruze south on Colorado 145 near Ophir about 1:30 a.m. when the vehicle went off the right side of the highway and struck a road sign, then rolled several times down a steep embankment, the patrol said. The group was headed to a campsite after going to July 4 festivities in Telluride, according to the Telluride Daily Planet.

Bollman, 26-year-old Garrett LaForce of Littleton and 21-year-old Carly Sansone, of Smiths Creek, Mich., were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the state patrol. Weston Gleiss, 24, of Eagle, suffered minor injuries and was able to crawl from the wreckage and flag down help, the Daily Planet reported. A dog also survived

Everyone was wearing their seat belts.

Bollman had been in Colorado Springs for a little more than a year and had quickly built a reputation for being passionate about teaching and forging relationships with his students.

A Michigan native, Edward Bollman graduated from Northern Michigan University in 2013 and moved to Colorado Springs shortly after to teach math and coach girls’ volleyball at Watson Junior High in Security-Widefield.

LaForce also was Northern Michigan University graduate and was a teacher and coach at Eagle Valley High School, the Vail Daily reported. Gleiss, who survived, also is a teacher, the newspaper reported.

After just one year teaching and coaching, Bollman was offered the girls’ varsity volleyball coaching position at Widefield High School, where he was also to teach math during the 2014-2015 school year.

The promotion to head varsity coach was unusual for a young, second-year teacher, said Watson Junior High principal Justin Lee.

“He was an amazing guy and he was in teaching for all the right reasons: he really loved his students and wanted to help shape them into responsible citizens and adults,” Lee said.

Lee said Bollman was outgoing, athletic and dedicated. He attended every school event he could, cheering on the students and demonstrating a genuine desire to be involved in their lives.

Hearing that his son had immediately found success teaching was no surprise for Kenneth Bollman, 56.

“He was such a good kid and we are so proud of him. But being so far away, losing someone like that, it’s really tough,” Kenneth Bollman said in a phone interview from his home in northwest Michigan.

Athletics had always been one of Edward Bollman’s strengths and he played basketball, baseball and soccer for several years through school, as well as participating in cross country and track in high school, his father said. He loved being outdoors and his joyful demeanor earned him lots of friends.

“I’m going to miss him as an adult, applying everything he learned and how he would’ve grown,” Kenneth Bollman said. “His mother and I are trying to get through this. One moment we think we’re doing alright, the next we’re really sad. It’s been really painful.”

A site will be set up at the main entrance to Watson Junior High School, 136 Fontaine Blvd., from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Monday for anyone who wishes to drop off cards to be forwarded to the Bollman family.

Funeral services for Edward Bollman will be Friday in Cadillac, Mich.

Edward Raymond Ballman. Facebook photo.

Edward Raymond Ballman. Facebook photo.