A Mississippi high school principal says a student who died in a wreck was trustworthy, kind and “good to people.”

West Jones High School Principal Cooper Pope told WDAM-TV that 18-year-old Cade Thompson was a senior football player.

“It’s very hard to lose a child like that,” Pope said. “They’re not supposed to leave us that soon.”

Thompson died Wednesday morning when his pickup truck was in a wreck with a school bus on U.S. 84 in Jones County. The sheriff’s department said no one on the bus was injured.

Football rival Northeast Jones High School honored Cade by putting his photo and jersey number, 56, on its football stadium scoreboard. Pope said churches immediately began showing support.

“By the time I had gotten back on campus, those players had met with all of the coaches down at the fieldhouse and we had four or five youth ministers that were here praying with our kids,” Pope said.