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.
Clinton HS
- BHP 27 – Clinton 24… By now most of you know that the undefeated Bears of BHP took a 27-24 win up at BHP last Friday night to end the Red Devils season… If you were not there you missed a good one as two very good team went at each other like two heavy weight fighters neither one wanting to give up after being hit by a punch.
- First Quarter… The Bears struck first as their all-everything running back Marquise Henderson scored on the Bears first play from scrimmage on a 40 yd. run to make it 7-0 with 10:06 left in the 1st quarter… Neither team could hit a knockout punch in the remainder of the quarter
- Second Quarter… Clinton scored on a 1 yd. run by Tray Cook with 11:43 left in the 2nd quarter to cap a 65 yd. drive with Tushawn Richardson setting up the TD with a 27 yd. run to the BHP 1… Chris Boyd then picked off a BHP pass and Richardson connected with Zay Johnson on a 51 yd. pass that got down to the BHP 1… Again Tray Cook carried it in to make it 14-7 Red Devils… The Bears then added a 22 yd. field goal with 13 seconds left in the half to make it 14-10 Red Devils at the half.
- Third Quarter…The Bears scored on the opening drive of the 3rd quarter when M. Henderson carried it in from 32 yds. out to make it 17-14 Bears… The Red Devils then drove down the field and when the drive stalled at the BHP 9 yd. line, Keegan Fortman kicked a 26 yd. field goal to tie the game 17-17 with 1:14 left in the quarter.
- Fourth Quarter… BHP then started a drive in the 3rd quarter that ended at the Clinton 11 yd. line and they kicked a 28 yd. field goal to go up 20-17… after that score, the BHP defense scored when they intercepted a T. Richardson pass and carried it to the house with 3:33 left in the game to make it 27-17 Bears… The Red Devils certainly did not roll over at that point as T. Richardson led them back down the field and they score on a 29 yd. TD pass to Zay Johnson with 3:33 left in the game and Keegan Fortman was once again good on the PAT to make it 27-24 Bears… The Bears were then able to run out the clock and take the win.
- Final Stats and Comments… If you would like to see the complete stat package on the game including a play-by-play accounting of the game click here… Coach Fountain was quick to point out after the game that the Red Devils had lost to a very good football team and that he was very proud of the way the team battled… He has every right to be as the JV team went undefeated this season and though they lose some seniors the future looks bright for the Red Devils next season… GO Big Red!
- Girls Basketball Starts Tonight… The Red Devil girls’ basketball team will open their season tonight as they host the Red Devil Tipoff Tournament… I’m not sure who the first two teams are that will be playing at 6:00 pm but I can tell you that the Red Devils are scheduled to host the York Cougars tonight at 7:30… Go Big Red!
Laurens HS
- Girls Basketball: Raiders 62 – Blazers 33… The Lady Raider girls basketball team traveled to Woodruff HS Saturday morning to start their participation in the 2023 Coach Varner Tipoff Classic… Good news for Raider fans as the team started the season taking a 62-33 win over the Blazers of Greer Middle College… The game stayed close in the first half as the Raiders only led 26-20 at the half… The Raiders came out and played tough defense in the 3rd quarter as they held the Blazers to just 2 points while they scored 12 to take a 38-22 lead into the 4th quarter and were never really threatened after that… Junior Zoe Young Zoe Young used her height and aggressiveness going to the basket as she led the team with 20 points… Faith Jackson finished with 14 points, Keyoric Yeargin 11, Ty Jones 9, Taliya Ballard 4 and both Destiny Anderson and Mi’Angel Pitts both finished with 2 points each…. Up Next… The Raiders return to action tonight at 6:00 pm taking on Landrum in winners’ bracket game AT 6:00 PM AT Woodruff HS.
- Boys Basketball…The Raider boys’ basketball team will take to the court on today 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!
Laurens Academy… The Laurens Academy Crusaders opened up their season last Friday night traveling over to Anderson to take on the New Covenant Cavaliers.
- Girls: Cavaliers 52 – Crusaders 28… The Crusader girls’ team opened their season on a down note as they fell to the Cavaliers 52-38… The Cavaliers led 19-4 after one quarter of play and 32-8 at the half and then went on to the 52-28 win… They were led in scoring by Addison Caney who scored 12 points while the leading scorer for the Crusaders was Olivia Huck with 10 points… Others scoring for the Crusaders were Rylee Ballard with 6 points, Hanna Ervin and Emily Suttles with 4 points each and finally both Sadie Bruyere and Maddison Graham had 2 points each.
- Boys: Cavaliers 36 – Crusaders 25… The boys’ game was closer but I still have to report that the Crusaders fell by a score of 36-25… They trailed 23-14 at the half and then came out in the 3rd quarter and outscored the Cavaliers 7-2 to make the score 25-21 Cavaliers going into the final 8 minutes of play but could get no closer… The Cavaliers Zane Fulmer led all scorers with 20 points… The leading scorer for the Crusaders was Garrett Murphy who finished with 10 points… Others scoring for the Crusaders were Brayden Burke & Jarred Willard 4 points each… Evan Asalone & Garrison Vaughn 3 points each and Buddy Baker finished with 4 points.
- MS Boys: Cavaliers 43 – Crusaders 24… In middle school boys’ action, the Cavilers took a 43-24 win over the Crusaders… The Cavaliers Chris Williams led all scorers with 18 points while Michael Straight led the Crusaders with 10 points.
- MS Girls: No score reported.
- Up Next: All the Crusader basketball teams are schedule to host Greenwood Christian tomorrow starting with middle school girls at 4:00 pm.
Upstate High School Football Scores From Last Friday (11-17-23) Night & Brackets (click on class to see the playoff bracket)
- Class AAAAA… Dutch Fork 35 – Gaffney 10 and JL Mann 21 – Hillcrest 13
- Class AAAA… Greenville 42 – Northwestern 21 and Westside 68 – Midland Valley 53
- Class AAA… Daniel 49 – Chester 20 and BHP 27 – Clinton 24
- Class AA… Abbeville 16 – Silver Bluff 6 and Gray Colligate 35 – Strom Thurmond 31
- Class A… Christ Church 27 – Blackville-Hilda 7 and St Josephs 27 – Southside Christian 14
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.
Sports Talk High School Football Recap
- To hear a recap of playoff football games around the state last Friday (11-17-23) produced by Sports Talk Media, click here.
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 league’s 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 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.
- 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.
