ROOT - Authorities this morning were still investigating the cause of a head-on collision on Route 162 near the intersection of Rappa Road that left two Montgomery County residents dead early Saturday.

Marc A. Priddle, 23, whose obituary lists his address as Moyer Street in ?Canajoharie, and Vincent J. Chase, 21, of Sprakers were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office reported.

Priddle was driving a 2001 Jeep south, and Vincent J. Chase, 21, was driving north in a 1997 Isuzu pickup truck when the two vehicles collided at about 5:35 a.m., according to the news release.

An initial investigation showed that one of the vehicles crossed the center line, causing the vehicles to collide, authorities said.

Officials would not say this morning which vehicle crossed the center line.

Priddle's vehicle went off the road and caught fire, according to the news release.

The crash site was on a somewhat straight area of Route 162, officials said. They could not yet say whether road conditions factored into the cause of the crash.

Results from an autopsy, toxicology reports and a review by the New York State Police Accident Reconstruction Team are pending.

Priddle is a lifelong area resident who attended Canajoharie schools and the Fordsbush Bible Church, according to his obituary.

In 2005, he earned his certificate in auto body repair from the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery Board of Cooperative Educational Services and had been employed by John May, according to the obituary.

"It's definitely a tragic loss," Root Supervisor John Thayer said this morning. "Two young men had their lives severely cut short."

Thayer said he knows both victims' families.

Priddle's funeral is scheduled for Tuesday. The service schedule for Chase was unavailable this morning.