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MOCKSVILLE — Davie County junior offensive lineman Chris Nichols still remembers the wave of nervousness that hit him on the sidelines prior to his first varsity game last fall. Nichols also remembers how fortunate he was that the player standing next to him was a 16-year-old powerhouse named Jhockton Dalton.
“Jhockton, I’m nervous,” Nichols said on that night, gesturing helplessly at the huge crowd arrayed behind them.
“Ah, forget about them,” laughed Dalton. “Me and you have got a game to play. Just think about the game.”
“It helped,” says Nichols, now an established starter for the War Eagles. “It really did.”
Nichols is an immense young man, 6-foot-3 and 275 pounds. But it’s very clear that he looked up to Dalton. But then, everybody did. Everyone on the Davie football and track teams. Everyone on the Davie coaching staff. Everyone in the Davie High student body. Everyone at Dalton’s church.
Literally everyone.
That’s why it was so gut-wrenching for an entire community when Dalton was killed in an automobile accident the last week of May.
“Jhockton Dalton was our anchor,” says Davie head coach Doug Illing. “Now that anchor’s cut off and we’re just floating around.”
Illing’s team opened practice for a new season filled with promise, but it’s hard for any coach or player to gaze around that orange locker room without thinking of Dalton, a 6-2, 260-pound specimen who would have been a senior.
“Losing him is a big blow to this team,” admits Illing. “You lose a Jhockton and there has to be a drop-off. He was a kid whose work ethic in the summer put him in position to dominate games in the fall. He was our strongest guy. He could bench press 385 pounds.”
Dalton was the rock of a right guard that Davie QBs looked to for protection, that running backs loved to run behind. Even more than his physical prowess, Illing will miss Dalton’s uplifting presence that united all War Eagles. Black and white. Junior and senior. South Davie and North Davie.
“It’s definitely an even bigger personal blow for all of us than a football blow,” says Illing.
“Jhockton was the one person I knew who always worked hard, always gave his all every minute,” says Nichols. “On the field, in the classroom, in the weight room. Sometimes, we’d all be dreading practice and Dalton would come in and start laughing and would cheer everyone up. Then we’d go out there and have some fun.
“Jhockton left an impression. He’s hard to forget.”
And the War Eagles won’t try. Instead, they’ll do their utmost to remember what Dalton meant to them. He’ll be in their thoughts this season in every huddle, in every prayer, in every locker room chat.
“And every practice,” adds Nichols.
“We’re going to do our best to keep Jhockton with us,” says Illing. “You’ll see a black 68 on our helmets this year. That’s for Jhockton. We’ll carry his helmet out on that field every Friday night. No, we’re not gonna forget him.”
Davie’s first game is Aug. 18 against Statesville. Nichols sees that date fast approaching with a mixed sense of joy and pain. “That first Friday is gonna be hard,” he says. “Real hard,”
And if he starts to get nervous?
“I’m not worried about that,” he says, forcing a smile. “Jhockton’s gonna be right there with me.”
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Mike London is the assistant sports editor of the Post.
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Mike London