Barely two weeks into the new school year, students at Cherokee High School are mourning the deaths of two classmates killed in wrecks on Sunday and Wednesday, while in neighboring Bartow County, a 14-year-old girl was killed Wednesday when a pickup truck carrying three teens crashed.

Both Cherokee drivers had turned 16 within the past six weeks,

Jeremy Michael Railey, 16, of Canton, lost control of his 1995 Mazda RX-7 on Cokers Chapel Road near Ball Ground at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and slid into the path of an oncoming Ford Explorer, said Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison.

Railey was taken to Northside Hospital-Cherokee, where he died a short time later, Garrison said.

A passenger in Railey's car, 16-year-old Joseph Casey of Ball Ground, was airlifted to North Fulton Medical Center, where he was in stable condition today, the sheriff said. The driver of the Explorer, Elaine Scott, 43, of Ball Ground, was treated at Northside-Cherokee and released.

Garrison said investigators had not determined whether speed was a factor in the crash. The wreck was likely the result of inexperience, he said. Railey just turned 16 on July 31.

"It's a very curvy road," Garrison said. "I believe the young man just lost control of his vehicle, possibly running off the right side of the road and overcorrecting, and that sent his car directly into the path of the oncoming vehicle."

On Monday, 16-year-old Christian Johnson died at Grady Memorial Hospital from injuries he sustained in a single-car wreck over the weekend, said Cherokee County Coroner Earl Darby.

Johnson was seriously injured about 4 a.m. Sunday when his Mercury Tracer ran off Ga. 108 near Waleska and struck an embankment, Darby said. Johnson, who turned 16 on July 16, was alone in his car.

Both Johnson and Railey were students at Cherokee High School in Canton, said school system spokesman Mike McGowan.

Also on Wednesday, a 14-year-old Paulding County girl was killed in a crash on Rolling Hills Drive off Ga. 61 in south Bartow County.

The 5 p.m. accident occurred when the 16-year-old driver of a Ford F-250 pickup truck lost control on a curve. The truck overturned, crushing the passenger compartment, Georgia State Patrol spokesman Jim Shuler said.

The driver, whose identity was not released, will face charges in the death of his passenger, Jenna Ray, Shuler said. Another passenger, Christopher Weaver, 15, of Cartersville, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition.

Shuler said Ray, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was partially ejected through a window of the extended-cab truck when it struck an embankment and was hanging partially out of the truck when it rolled over. It was not known whether the driver and other passenger were wearing seatbelts.

Shuler said all three teens are students at Woodland High School in Cartersville.