PEARL RIVER, N.Y. — Mike Oliva knows firsthand the kind of impact he has as the varsity football coach in a small town.

When he became the head coach at Pearl River High School, Oliva made it his goal to represent the hardworking people of Pearl River. Football means a lot to the small hamlet of 16,000 people, just 20 miles north of midtown Manhattan.

So much, that when Oliva goes out for breakfast on a Sunday morning at Pearl River’s Greenstar Restaurant, patrons of the diner greet him hello with smiles, waves and fist-bumps.

This fall required Oliva to guide not just his team through the rigorous season, but the entire community through the type of tragedy no coach could prepare for.

On the morning of Sunday, Oct. 13, a Porsche Macan carrying three teenagers collided with a Volkswagen Jetta on a Route 304 overpass in Pearl River. The Porsche SUV fell off the overpass, plummeting 50 feet and landing upside down on the train tracks below before bursting into flames.

In the car was Pearl River football player and senior Altin Nezaj, 17, Pearl River senior Aisha Radoncic, 17, and Radoncic’s cousin from Brooklyn, Saniha Cekic, 15.

Nezaj and Cekic were pronounced dead at the hospital later that day. A couple who witnessed the crash was able to save Radoncic before the SUV burst into flames. Westchester Medical Center staff told lohud.com that Radoncic was in good condition after suffering serious injuries. The driver of the Jetta was unharmed.

Local police said that neither alcohol nor drugs appeared to play a role in the collision.

Oliva was a roughly two-hour drive away from Pearl River that Sunday afternoon, watching his eight-year-old son Christopher’s baseball tournament in Morganville, New Jersey. Oliva’s wife Kristin heard that there was a car accident in Pearl River, but there were not yet details.

“Immediately, my mind goes to the students and my players,” Oliva said. “It’s a small town, and you think of, you know, the people you care about — your students.”

The Olivas were quickly relieved to find out their three-year-old twins were safe at home, but Mike could not think about anything other than his players’ safety as the tournament concluded with a victory for his son’s team.

As the team celebrated on the field with their trophy, Oliva received a text from Mark Travaglino, the middle school football coach and former varsity coach, saying that Nezaj may have been involved in the accident.

“My heart drops,” Oliva said.

Oliva’s first instinct was to call Nezaj’s phone, he said, but, “like every other high school kid in the world, his voicemail box was full.”

On the drive home, Oliva found out from an assistant coach — who is a local police officer — that Nezaj died in the accident. Oliva was not yet allowed to tell anyone, as not even Nezaj’s family knew of their son’s death at this point.

“It was probably the worst day of my life, to be honest,” Oliva said.

What to do next, no one could tell.

There’s no playbook on how to handle a player’s death. There’s no film to watch on leading vigils, nor any game plan on handling grief.

Being together felt like the only option. That night, the high school held a vigil on the football field to commemorate Nezaj. Oliva said he expected 75-100 people to show up, but different estimates gauged that crowd to be between 500 and 600 supporters.

“The field was packed,” Oliva said. “People just flocked there.”

Nezaj’s jersey, No. 71, was laid on the 50-yard line. Community members cried, hugged and stood in silence.

In addition to his family and the varsity football players and coaches, the junior varsity team, Nezaj’s teammates on the wrestling team and friends he worked out with represented those closest to him at the vigil. The crowd extended much beyond that though, as anyone from Pearl River who could show up to mourn the tragic death did.

After Oliva and the school district’s superintendent Marco Pochintesta spoke briefly, local religious leaders led prayers and made speeches to unite the community.

“I was extremely proud of the Pearl River community,” offensive and defensive linemen coach Steve Lonergan said. “That night, I’ll never forget.”

Team captains told Oliva the next day that the players all talked and unanimously agreed they needed to play their next game. Just six days after the accident, Pearl River competed in the “Little Brown Jug,” its annual competition against top rival Nanuet High School.

Pearl River lost, 34-19, but Lonergan was proud because “they never quit and they kept fighting” despite being emotionally and physically drained.

“That game really showed us who we were as men, who were as a team, individuals, a community. All of that. And that’s where the pride came,” Lonergan said. “That’s where the real win was.”

“We did more for the community than anything else that week,” Oliva said. “That’s the truth.”

A 33-0 win in the first round of the playoffs against Pleasantville — the last team Nezaj played against — followed the next week. Despite a second-round exit from the playoffs at the hands of Byram Hills, Pearl River won its second rivalry game, the Orange Bowl, to close out the season.

A 4:45 game, the rainy weather and dark skies made it feel like a true night game, Oliva said. With the Friday night lights shining on the home field, Pearl River created what became the most incredible atmosphere of the season by the end of the game.

A victory in the Orange Bowl encapsulated what Oliva preached after Nezaj’s death: just have fun out there.

“I tried to tell the team, ‘If you really break it down, the reason that we play football, the reason why I coach, the reason why you guys play, and if you really break it down to when you were little kids, you started playing football because it was fun. So as hard as it is, let’s try to get back to having fun,’” Oliva said. “‘It’s ok to have a good time and feel good about yourselves again.’”

“That’s what Altin would’ve wanted,” Oliva said.

The same week as the Little Brown Jug, Nezaj’s 13-year-old brother Leon made the same decision to play in his middle school football game. Travaglino described playing football after the tragedy as “a tremendous outlet for” not only Leon, but all the players.

“There’s a heck of a lot more out there … than wins at the end of the season,” Travaglino said. “To be part of something is, and has, tremendous merit.”

Perhaps most affected on the coaching staff was Lonergan, Nezaj’s position coach. Lonergan described his relationship with Nezaj as “more (about) life than football.”

Lonergan saw Nezaj grow during their two seasons together from a player and student who was not entirely focused to a one who gave his all in both school and sports.

“You just watched this kid peak every week,” Lonergan said. “On that Friday night (before he passed away), he was the best version of himself he had ever been.”

After the best game of his career that week, a 34-14 win over Pleasantville, Lonergan said he and Nezaj had a “lovefest,” where Nezaj thanked Lonergan for pushing him hard to improve himself.

Despite struggling greatly with his own grief, Lonergan, and the rest of the coaching staff, knew they had to hold everything together for the rest of the team.

“We knew we had to do everything for the kids,” Lonergan said. “I didn’t really fully grieve, or start my real grieving until the football season ended … I’m still grieving. Walking through the halls is still different.”

Pearl River’s senior trip in November to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, allowed Lonergan and many students the chance to get away but still be together, he said. A week and a half after the season ended, being away from football and enjoying Disney World allowed the team the opportunity to just have fun together.

Oliva’s vision for the team came to full fruition.

When thinking about his role in the community, Oliva has always known he is a leader. He has always known the impact he can have on lives. After all, he’s had his own coaches growing up.

What he did not know was how just how critically important he would be to the Pearl River community this year. Oliva, and the rest of the coaching staff, guided Pearl River through the unimaginable. 

Through football, a community had taken the first step in healing.

“Nothing gives you what football gives you,” Lonergan said. “Nothing.”

It may seem silly to those outside the sport that a high school football coach carries the same level of influence as a priest, rabbi or local politician. The leadership skills learned from a game can transcend the sport that teaches them. 

Lonergan, Oliva and Travaglino all agreed that time is the ultimate healer of all wounds. In the short term — before time could run its course — the football coaching staff is exactly who everyone needed.

“‘Coach’ is a title,” Lonergan said. “‘Coach’ is not a job description.”