Tom Knotts able to coach Dutch Fork football game after all
Editor’s note: This story has been updated from an earlier version that said Knotts would not be at the game.
The word Friday afternoon was that Dutch Fork football would be without head football coach Tom Knotts on Friday when the Silver Foxes took on Byrnes.
Knotts spent time in the hospital this week but was released mid-week. He showed up at practice on Thursday and then rode the bus with the team to the game.
And Knotts was in his usual spot on the Dutch Fork sidelines with his headset on watching his team defeat Byrnes, 56-25, to extend its unbeaten streak to 52 games.
Assistant Doug Rivers would have been the acting head coach if Knotts couldn’t have coached.
“This is what I do.. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Knotts said. “I gave it my all. Coach Rivers did a remarkable job and called most of the plays in the first half. He did a great job preparing, and just real pleased with the way the coaches stepped up.”
Knotts said he had an ablation and atrial flutter, which is a type of abnormal heart rhythm or arrhythmia, according to Johns Hopkins medicine. The Dutch Fork coach said medical workers had to shock his heart back into rhythm.
“It is probably a little scarier than it is,” Knotts said. “But it is what it is. I’m 65 years old.”
Friday’s game was the first for the Silver Foxes since the death of senior offensive lineman Jack Alkhatib, who died after collapsing at practice on Aug. 24. The school held a memorial last Friday for Alkhatib and didn’t play last week against Gaffney.
Dutch Fork returned to the practice field Monday.
Knotts has built Dutch Fork into a powerhouse program since arriving at the school in 2010 after stops in North Carolina at Harding, West Charlotte and Charlotte Independence.
Under Knotts, the Silver Foxes have won six state championships, including five Class 5A titles in a row from 2016-2020. Dutch Fork is the first football team in South Carolina High School League history to win five consecutive state titles,
After Friday’s win, Knotts has 426 victories and 13 state championships.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 6:24 PM.
