Funeral services are Tuesday for Carson Kurtz, who died Saturday from injuries he received in an ATV wreck in Tallulah.

Carson, 15, was a student and played soccer at Warren Central High School before transferring to St. Aloysius near the end of the school year. He was expected to play goalkeeper for the Flashes in the upcoming season.

“I knew his brother Chris, who played for me, so I knew Carson when he was a little guy,” said Warren Central soccer coach Greg Head.

Head recalled talking to Carson, a freshman at Warren Central who was in his physical education class, about playing soccer.

“He was a good athlete; I think I asked several times about playing soccer,” Head said.

He recalled a time Carson played a game called “burnout,” where people try to catch a hard-thrown football, “and this boy had amazing hands. I asked him, ‘Carson, do you want to try out for goalkeeper?’ And he said ‘I guess so.’

“He came out for goalkeeper, and he tried out and he was a natural; he loved it. Last year he played goalkeeper for my JV and did extremely well. We had high hopes for him. He was a good young man; the kind of player you wanted. A good kid, a good athlete and he worked hard. I hated losing him. He was a good keeper.”

Dani Kay Thomas, Carson’s ninth-grade English teacher at St. Aloysius, said “he was just a truly lovely young man; friendly and outgoing.

“I didn’t know him that long, but it took just a few days to steal my heart,” Thomas said. “He had a beautiful smile.”

She said Carson was very well-mannered, friendly and outgoing.

“He fit in so easily at our school; the kids took to him easily. He worked hard. He was able to catch on very fast,” Thomas said. “I fell in love with him very fast; he had a contagious smile.”

She said Carson would come and visit with her and would see her after school for help catching up with the class.

Jay Madison, St. Aloysius soccer coach, said he knew Carson through the Vicksburg Soccer Organization.

“He was a very good athlete and he was establishing his work ethic; he was just starting to realize his potential. He was just a great kid.”

According to information from the Madison Parish Sheriff’s office, the wreck occurred on private property early Saturday morning. The wreck was reported to the Madison Parish Sheriff’s Office about 5:21 a.m. after Carson was discovered by friends.

Services are 11 a.m. Tuesday at Glenwood Funeral Home.

Burial will follow at Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery.