Sports Talk Media Network Morning Sportscast and Sports Talk Media High School Football Recap… To listen to these bonus sports broadcast, click here to go to the Between the Lines posting where the latest of these can be heard.
Local Notes
Clinton HS
- Clinton at BHP…The Clinton Red Devils will be on the road for the first time in the playoffs tonight as they travel to BHP to take on the Bears…The Bears come into the contest with a perfect 12-0 record having finished first in their region…. They are coming off a 44-28 win over Pendleton last Friday night at home.
- The Bears are averaging 52.1 points per game and giving up 18.2 points per game… The Red Devils are averaging 40.6 points per game and giving up 16.8 points per game.
- BHP and Clinton have had 4 common opponents…. They are Emerald, Laurens, Palmetto and Woodruff… They both defeated all 4 schools by similar margins… If you would like to see the schedule for both teams in a side-by-side comparison, click here.
- The Red Devil offense will need to find a way to neutralize the Bears Shrine Bowl linebacker Omari Jackson who is very good at putting pressure on the opponents quarterback.
- Offensively, the Bears running back Marquise Henderson is averaging 162.3 yds. per game and has 32 rushing TDs on the season… Their quarterback Noah Thomas is completing 69.2% of his passes for an average of 127 yds. per game and has thrown 22 TD passes… Wide receiver Quay Alexander has 57 receptions this season averaging 64.3 yds. per game and has caught 8 TD passes.
- For more information on the Bears click not only on the link mentioned above (click here) but also click here for more BHP stats.
- Ticket Information… Tickets can be purchased at the gate tonight for $10 CASH ONLY… You can also skip the line at the ticket booth and purchase your tickets online… In order to do that, click here… The gates will open at 6:00 pm… Also remember that only SCHSL passes will be accepted… One last note, GO BIG RED!
Other Upper State Playoff Games Tonight
- Class AAAAA: Gaffney at Dutch Fork and Hillcrest at JL Mann
- Class AAAA: Greenville at Northwestern and Westside at Midland Valley
- Class AAA: Chester at Daniel… To see the Class AAA bracket click here.
- Class AA: Silver Bluff at Abbeville and Strom Thurmond at Gray Collegiate
- Class A: Blackville Hilda at Christ Church and St Josephs at Southside Christian
High School Football Scores, Schedules and Standings
- Thanks to scfootballstats.com you can now see last weekend’s scores for all games by classification on Saturday or Sunday and possibly Monday… After that you will see the weeks schedule by classification… You can also see the standings in each region by classification… To see this information, click here.
Laurens HS
- Raider Girls Basketball Team Starts Play in Varner Tipoff Classic… The basketball season is upon us as evidenced by the fact that the Laurens Raider girls varsity basketball game will start their participation in the 2023 Coach Varner Tipoff Classic at Woodruff HS tomorrow… The Raiders will open play at 10:00 am against Greer Middle College… They will continue play next week either at Woodruff HS or at the Woodruff Activity Center depending on whether they will or lose… To see the schedule for the tournament click here… Good luck to Coach Michael Cade and the Raiders.
- Raider Boys Basketball Starts Monday… The Raider boys’ basketball team will take to the court on Monday at 4:00 pm as they take on Dorman in the first game of the 2023 Impact Sports Invitational at Spartanburg Christian Academy… Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 pm and this will be an excellent test for Coach Armond Flood and the Raiders at the start of the season… To see the tournament bracket / schedule click here… Good luck to the Raiders.
SCHSL Notes
- SCHSL Executive Committee Voter to use Multiplier Rule… Yesterday the SCHSL executive committee voted on a plan which passes 12-4 to try to restore competitive balance to the leagues sports especially among schools in the lower A and AA classifications… They voted to take each student who lives outside a school’s attendance zone and multiple them by 3 for enrollment purposes thus inflating the school’s attendance figures and possibly raising them up a classification or two for athletics… This is in response to the fact that some private and charter schools are drawing in students from outside their attendance zone and thus possible getting an unfair advantage in quality of players… Gray Colligate is one school in the Columbia area that has run into the problem of other schools in their region not playing them because of this… Thus out-of-zone multiplier will apply to all schools in the SCHSL nit just private and charter schools… Lou Bezak with the State Newspaper has written an article about this and it has more information in it you most likely will be interested in… To see that article click here.
- SCHSL Taking Suggestions on Competitive Balance… A lot has been said around the state about the apparent fact that charter schools and private school seem to have a competitive edge and are having greater success especially in the lower classification… In the case of Gray Colligate in Columbia, some schools have decided to forfeit their games with the school in multiple sports… The SCHSL has formed a competitive balance committee to look into this and they will be reporting to the leagues executive committee on this matter soon… Lou Bezak has written an interesting article in the State Newspaper about some of the suggestion s that may come out of this committee and be reported to the executive committee… If you would like to read this article, click here… These ideas could affect schools like Thornwell, Calhoun Falls, Christ Church, Southside Christian and St Joseph’s in our area should they come to pass.
- Football Finals Moved to SC STATE… Recently it was announced that this year’s State Championship games will be played at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium on the Campus of SC State University in Orangeburg… To read the press release about this move click here… With that being said the dates and times of the five championship games have also been announced and are as follows:
- November 30: Class 2A – 7 pm
December 1: Class 1A – 2 pm and Class 5A – 8 pm
December 2: Class 4A – 12 pm and Class 3A – 7 pm
- November 30: Class 2A – 7 pm
Local Sports Schedule: All schedules subject to change right up to game time.
- School District 55: To see the sports schedule for this week at LDHS, click here.
- School District 56: To see the sports schedule for this week at CHS and CMS, click here
- Laurens Academy: To see the varsity and middle school boys’ basketball l schedule click here… To see the varsity & middle school girls’ basketball schedule click here.
- Thornwell: To see the Thornwell football schedule click here… To see the volleyball schedule click here… To see the cross country schedule click here.
- PC Sports Calendar… To see the PC athletics sports calendar, click here.
College Sports:
Football
- College Football Preview… For those of you who got use to listening to the Sports Talk Media College Football Preview each Friday night during the Raider football season, if you click here you can listen to the preview for this weekend’s college football games.
- College Football Scores and Upcoming Games by Weeks… For those of you college football fans who are looking for a quick way to find scores for each week of the college football season and upcoming games listed by each week, I have made it easy for you… Just click here… This link will carry you to the NCAA website where college football game and scores are listed week by week… Once you get there, there are numerous ways you can filter the schedules and results on the site… You can filter by week, by paying division (FBS, FCS, DII and DII as well as by week, conference and other ways… I use it a lot and hope you will enjoy using it!
- FBS AP Rankings… The latest AP Ranking (11-12-23) for the FBS Division still has Georgia at #1 followed by Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State and Washington in the top 5… Spots 6-10 are occupied by Oregon, Texas, Alabama, Louisville (up from #11) and Oregon State which moved up from 12 to #10… To see the entire top 25 click here.
- FCS Coaches Poll… The latest FCS Coaches Poll (11-12-23) for college football still has South Dakota State ranked #1 Furman is still ranked #2 after their 37-3 win over VMI last Saturday… To see the entire top 25 in the Coaches Poll click here.
- College Football Playoff Rankings… The latest College Football Playoff rankings (11-11-23) had the #1 and #2 teams switch spots as Georgia is now #1 and Ohio State is #2… Michigan still is #3 and Florida State continues to hold down spot #4… All four of those schools are undefeated and Washington which is also undefeated checks in at #5… If you want to see the entire top 25 as ranked by the committee, click here.
Men’s Basketball
- DI AP Rankings… The latest AP Rankings (11-12-23) for D-I college men’s basketball have Kansas as # 1 followed by Purdue, Arizona, Marquette and UConn rounding out the top 5… All were undefeated at the time the poll was taken with records of 2-0…. If you would like to see the entire top 25 in the AP Poll click here.
- DI Scores… If you would like to keep up with the latest scores in men’s DI basketball click here… Once you get to this posting on the NCAA website you can go back and look at recent scores by date and you can also look ahead at the upcoming schedule… You can even filter by conference or top 25… Enjoy!
Women’s Basketball
- DI AP Rankings… The latest AP Rankings (11-13-23) for D-I college women’s basketball now has South Carolina at #1 after being #6 in the preseason poll… The balance of the top 5 are Iowa, UCLA, Utah and Colorado… If you would like to see the entire top 25 in the AP Poll click here.
- DI Scores… If you would like to keep up with the latest scores in women’s DI basketball click here… Once you get to this posting on the NCAA website you can go back and look at recent scores by date and you can also look ahead at the upcoming schedule… You can even filter by conference or top 25… Enjoy!
Pro Sports: For more information on the game(s) below, click on the scores.
NFL
- Scores and Schedules… If you would like to see the upcoming schedule of NFL games or check on scores for each week in the NFL season, click here to go to the NFL website where you can filter by week of the season to check on any of that and more.
- Standings… If you would like to see the standings for all of the NFL teams in both the AFC and NFC listed by division, click here.
NBA
- Scores… To see the latest scores in the NBA and games up next, click here
- Standings… To see the current standing and records in each of the NBA Conferences click here.
This & That:
- 2023 Laurens YMCA Reindeer Run… The 24th annual Laurens YMCA Reindeer run 5k and Fun Run will be held Saturday, Dec. 9th… The cost to register for the 5K is $30 until Nov 19th and $35 after that date…That is also the date you must register by to be guaranteed to get a race shirt… The Fun Run (ages 1-12) cost is $5 and again you must pay for a race shirt separately by Nov.19th in the Fun Run… All proceeds go to support the Youth Scholarship Program and prizes will be awarded for the top two finishers male and female… Discounts for teams are also being offered… For more information call the Y at 984-2626… If you click here it will take you to the YMCA website where there is more information on the Reindeer Run and links to online registration.
- Youth Basketball Registration at The Ridge… Youth basketball registration is now open for boys and girls ages 7-12 for basketball through the City of Laurens Parks and Recreation Department… There will be both a boys and a girls division… The cost is only $60 and registration will close on Friday, Nov. 17th with skill evaluation on Monday, Nov. 20th… For more information call them at 681-7275 and registration will soon be available online at www.laurensrecreation.com.
- Laurens County TD Next Meeting December 13th… The Laurens County Touchdown Club kicked off the 2023 season on Thursday, November 16th… The club meets bi-weekly at The Ridge (City of Laurens Parks and Recreation headquarters) at noon for a lunch… Each week the high school coaches will talk about their recent games and upcoming opponents… After the first meeting, there will also be quest speakers… To see a list of who those speakers are scheduled to be for each meeting click here… The TD Club will close out its season on Wednesday, December 13th with its Post Season Awards Banquet… For more information on how to join the club or become a sponsor click here… To go to another part of our website where links to videos of this seasons past meetings, click here… See you there!
- Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame Accepting Nominations for Class of 2024… The Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame is now accepting nominations until December 15th for the class of 2024… It was created in 2017 to honor the men and women that, through sports, have brought pride and honor to Laurens County… To see the press release about this which list the criteria for this award click here… To learn more about the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame including those who have already been inducted, go to their website by clicking here… To go directly to their nominating form, click here…. Remember nominations must be in by December 15th.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or want to report scores, please contact me via email at: sports@wlbg.com or text me at 864-981-3470.
