About 4:30 Thursday morning — as soon as he heard the news —  Cameron Duba went to his friend Nathan Paulsen’s house.

Paulsen, 19, had been killed a few hours before in an accident on Nebraska 33 about four miles east of Crete. The accident also claimed the life of 50-year-old Man Huynh of Lincoln.

It appeared that Paulsen’s 1998 Pontiac Bonneville was westbound on the highway when he crossed the center line and crashed head-on into Huynh’s eastbound 1998 Toyota FourRunner, according to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.

Both men were driving alone, and wearing seatbelts. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

“When we found out, it was kind of like a shock; everything stood still like it didn’t really happen,” said Duba, who had just seen his friend two days before.

Duba met Paulsen in elementary school, after Paulsen’s family moved to Crete. The two boys both loved sports — basketball, football, sand volleyball, just about anything, Duba said.

They both became part of a tight-knit group of about 20 guys that played football and basketball at Crete High School and that hung around together — sometimes playing sports, sometimes hunting or four-wheeling or just hanging out — on evenings and weekends.

“It was just a really close group,” Duba said.

Thursday, many of those friends flocked to the home of Paulsen’s parents — Ray and Laurie Paulsen — to offer support and remember their friend who Duba described as competitive and constantly in a good mood.

Paulsen was home from Norfolk, where he attends college, for the summer, working at Norris Public Power District, Duba said.

Even though Paulsen graduated from Crete High School in 2007, his death still hit students and staff hard, said Crete Superintendent Kyle McGowan.

“Nate was a good student and a tremendous athlete. He was part of the state football championship team, McGowan said. “And he was just very involved in the  school.”

A crisis team was on hand Thursday at Crete Public Schools, where Paulsen’s two younger siblings are still students, McGowan said.

A few miles away, at Farmland Foods, staff also felt the loss of Huynh, a longtime employee who worked on the loading dock. Huynh was driving home from his shift at Farmland when the accident occurred. 

“Mr. Huynh was a loyal and dedicated employee for many years,” said Troy Mulgrew, general manager of the Crete plant. “He was highly respected by his co-workers, and we will miss him.”

More information was not immediately available about Huynh.

Paulsen’s family set up a fund for a memorial scholarship Thursday. Donations can be made to the Nathan Paulsen Memorial Scholarship Fund at any Pinnacle Bank location.

Memorial arrangements were still pending Thursday afternoon.

Reach Cara Pesek at 473-7361 or cpesek@journalstar.com.