Jack Alkhatib, ‘the spirit of Dutch Fork,’ memorialized in touching ceremony

The team came to the field as Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” played gently over the stadium speakers. A few moments later, a somber, yet moving performance of “Amazing Grace” told the crowd the event could begin.

It was a Friday night at the home of one of South Carolina’s best high football programs, but there was no fight song to lead the Dutch Fork Silver Foxes out of the tunnel. No national anthem to kick off another game in their quest for a sixth consecutive state title.

“Tonight,” said Dutch Fork principal Gerald Gary as he faced the home bleachers, “is not a typical Friday night at Dutch Fork High School. It’s not a typical night for our players, our fans or our community.

“It’s not, because this past Tuesday, Dutch Fork lost. And Dutch Fork rarely loses.”

Scheduled to face Gaffney when the week started, the Silver Foxes didn’t play a game Friday evening. Rather, they sat in their white jerseys in seats that were arranged in a “60” across the middle of their turf field. That’s the number worn by Jack Alkhatib, a senior offensive lineman who died Tuesday after collapsing at practice.

Alkhatib, 17, was memorialized Friday as not just the football player, but as a “best friend” to many of his teammates and a “wonderful, wonderful child” to his mother, Kelly Alkhatib.

“I could not have gone to heaven and gotten a more special son than Jack,” Kelly said.

Tributes to Jack Alkhatib poured out all evening. For 15 minutes prior to the ceremony, Dutch Fork seniors Ethan Benson and Coby Donelson, standing with their arms around each other a few yards from the spot Alkhatib fell Tuesday, laughed, cried and then grinned again as they relived Alkhatib stories for a small group of reporters.

“He’d wake me up at 3 a.m. just to go to Denny’s,” said Donelson, a defensive end/linebacker. “I’d be like, ‘Jack, I ain’t got no money.’ And he’d just pause and be like, ‘Want to go to Denny’s?’ That was him saying that he’d pay for me. He always making everyone laugh.”

“Jack taught me everything I know,” said Benson, an offensive lineman. “How to play, how to be a good teammate, be a good player, be a good classmate, anything. He was smart, intelligent, very funny.”

Dutch Fork coach Tom Knotts wasn’t in attendance Friday. Kesha Knotts, Tom’s wife, spoke on her husband’s behalf. Pauses in the emotional speech, written by Tom Knotts, were often interrupted by the sobs of those Silver Fox players and Alkhatib family members closest to the microphone.

“This is our sanctuary,” Knotts said. “This is our special place. It’s our home away from home, where we work. Where we enjoy teammates. Tuesday, at 8 o’clock, our football world was shattered. Big Jack lost his life on this field. ... ‘Get up, Jack, talk to me, Jack. Breathe, Jack, breathe.’ Players and coaches, parents, watched in disbelief. And in the horror, we prayed, we screamed, we held each other’s hands. We cried in pain and anguish. ‘Jack, get up.’

“I can’t imagine what Mom and Dad and big brother (Alkhatib) feel. I know the pain these players and coaches feel is deep, dark, ugly and real. We have asked God a hundred times, ‘Why?’

“Everyone says that time heals everything,” the speech continued. “That’s been my strategy in dealing with previous tragedies. That’s not going to work this time. Somehow we must do more than wait on Father Time to heal us.”

Kesha Knotts said not to mourn, but to “comfort and love each other” and “celebrate Jack’s life.”

“Big No. 60 had us laughing, smiling and loving,” she said. “He had us in the palm of his hand with his big ole teddy bear personality. So let’s stand up, lift our hands and eyes to heaven. Let’s celebrate Jack’s life.”

High school games across the state Friday honored Alkhatib with a moment of a silence. Gaffney, which found a schedule replacement for Dutch Fork, planned to send proceeds from its Friday game with Summerville to the Alkhatib family.

The Silver Foxes are scheduled to play next week at Byrnes. Their season is now dedicated to Alkhatib, said Dutch Fork quarterback Davin Patterson.

“Jack was the spirit of Dutch Fork,” Patterson said. “He’s all you could ask for in a Dutch Fork player. The season has to be dedicated to him. He died doing what he loved, with us. It’s something that you never prepare for — it’s hard on all of us — but this season is definitely going to be for him. We’re gonna go out there and win for him.”

Kelly Alkhatib, who called Friday’s ceremony “a beautiful evening” and “cathartic,” plans to be in attendance for the remainder of Dutch Fork’s season. She’ll be wearing what she had on Friday — a green No. 60 jersey with her surname on the back.

“This was given to me by my best friend for Christmas,” Kelly said. “This was supposed to be my attire for the rest of the season. ... I’m going to be here for the rest of the season — for my boy. I’m going to be here to support all of my boys because these boys know they’re mine now. They’re all mine. I love every single one of them.

“I’m going to be in the stands. Just look for the Alkhatib girl.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 11:04 PM.