ATKINS, Ark.- A night to remember. Students at Dover High School made sure their fellow classmate and football player killed last weekend was not forgotten.
Daniel “Dawson” McAlister died in an A-T-V crash last Saturday.
The game between the Dover Pirates and the Atkins Red Devils is usually about rivalry, but tonight it was about unity as everyone paid their respects to Dawson.
Pirates head coach, Greg Smith, says the loss has been tough on the team.
“When you lose somebody that you love, somebody close to you, you just have to go through the steps,” says Smith. “You do the wake, you do the funeral, and you hurt.”
Dawson’s number, 27, was everywhere but most special to the team was that his dad was at the game.
“I know how hard it is for him to come out here and be part of this and not see his son running around the football field,” says Smith. “It’s one of the quickest ways for him to heal, is to come back out and get right in the middle of it. He’s bonded with so many of our kids.”