The Florence Morning News Sunday August 26, 2001 Aug 25, 2001 Latta Coach Dies in Crash By CHRIS CLARK Morning News LATTA -- Hugh Watson, 31-year-old first-year head football coach and athletic director at Latta High School, died in an automobile accident early Saturday morning. Watson was returning home after his Vikings had won their season-opening game Friday night at Carver's Bay High School near Hemingway. Dillon County officials said he lost control of his truck and it overturned into a ditch, ejecting him into a wooded area. Watson is survived by his wife, Pamela "Marty" Watson, 4-year-old daughter Allison and 1-year-old son Pierce. A memorial service for Watson will be at 4 p.m. Monday in the Latta High School Gymnasium. The entire Dillon County school district will be dismissed from class on Monday at 1:30 p.m. in Watson's memory. In a recent interview with the Morning News, Watson proudly called himself "a Dillon County boy." While discussing the Vikings football program he said, "We're looking more at the future here." >From his time playing for Dillon head coach Jackie Hayes through his days coaching the Vikings, Watson was an integral part of Dillon County football. "I kind of grew up with him, even back to when I was a player at Dillon and he was in elementary school, and I remember he'd always want a tear-away jersey or something from our games," Hayes said. "As a child, Hugh had asthma and I'd go visit him in the hospital. "When he became a player here at Dillon, he wasn't one of the most talented players here but he started two years and was an all-conference player" he said. "He had a tremendous heart. He loved the Wildcats and he always wanted to be a coach." Hayes was on the telephone early Saturday morning congratulating Watson on Latta's success. Watson wanted to share the joy of Class A Latta's 14-6 win against Carver's Bay, a 2A school, with his friends. After nearly seven years as an assistant coach at Latta, Watson's dream of being a winning head coach had come true. "In the short period of time, it's amazing what he was doing with those kids at Latta. Hugh was a player's coach," Hayes said. "I'm devastated that such a young man with such a bright future has left us. "We were on the phone talking on until 2 a.m. or after, and that's late hours. But that's the hours that coaches keep sometimes when they're putting their all into a program." Doug Hinson was head coach at Latta each of the past two seasons before taking the head coaching job at Green Sea-Floyds this year. He became a close friend of Watson and, like Hayes, received an excited phone call Friday night as he returned from his squad's game at McBee. "I talked with him after they won, since he called me early in the morning as I was returning home," Hinson said. "Hugh was so proud of his guys and he was tickled for them that they won, since they were underdogs in the game. "He was excited, and it was a nervous type of excitement, with him giving me some play-by-play descriptions of the game," he said. "But away from the game of football, he was the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back. It's going to be a tough time realizing he is gone." Hinson mentioned that he and Watson ended their telephone discussion Saturday morning with tentative plans to meet and talk about football this weekend. That meeting won't take place, but Hinson said he believes that Watson was at a place in his life he was pleased with. "He always wanted to be a head coach and he was going to be a good one. He went out on top, no matter which way you look at it," he said. "It's just a tragedy. Everybody is in shock right now. He wanted the best for the Latta program. He graduated Dillon, but he was a Viking all the way. He got his chance to shine and he shined. "Hugh was a good friend to a lot of people and we need to keep his family in our prayers. Hugh was a great person who was just taking off in his life."