The hearts and minds of the high school football world in South Carolina was on Dutch Fork High School this past Friday.

At stadiums across the Palmetto State, a moment of silence was held prior to kickoffs in the memory of offensive lineman Jack Alkhatib. The 17-year-old senior passed away last Tuesday after collapsing during a Silver Foxes’ practice.

At the same stadium, the Dutch Fork community gathered together for a memorial service in his memory. Alkhatib’s teammates marched onto the field, holding his jersey number 60 as fans hoisted balloons in the air in his memory.

The players’ seats on the field were aligned in Alkhatib’s number 60 as well. Once the program began, speakers described Alkhatib as a “great teammate” who personified the best of Dutch Fork.

Jack’s mother, Kelly, was in attendance for the ceremony wearing his jersey.

“This was overwhelming to me,” Kelly said. “I could not hardly even believe it. I’ve been overwhelmed with messages on Twitter and Facebook and private messages and people that I haven’t seen in years coming out and telling me how much they loved me and my son. People that I never knew... I heard stories about Jack that I never knew occurred. The good things he’s been doing even without coming home and telling us. So this has been a beautiful evening for me. I needed this for me. It was cathartic.”

Kelly plans to be in attendance for Dutch Fork’s remaining games. After this past Friday’s contest at 5th ranked Gaffney was cancelled out of respect for Dutch Fork, the Silver Foxes have another trip to the Upstate planned this Saturday against another ranked team in JF Byrnes.

Dutch Fork has gone 51 consecutive games without a loss, won 50 straight against in-state teams and have 28 consecutive victories on the road.