Now: 3 PODS in Operation

As of today, there are three Points of Distribution for passing out supplies. These Points of Distribution – “PODs” – are open daily from 10:00 am until 7:00 pm. These are for people to drive-through and receive food, in the form of MREs (meals ready to eat) as well as water and tarps.

The first POD for drive-thru pickup is in the parking lot of the Laurens County Elections Office on Bolt Drive. The second location is at 600 Peachtree Steet in Clinton, the former Bell Street School. The third POD opens in Waterloo for the first time today. This drive-through pickup location is at the Waterloo Elementary School on US 221.

SCHSL Region Assignments for 24-26 School Years

The appeals process is finished for the reclassification of high school by the SCHSL.

The region assignments are now available and subject to appeal, but I doubt there will be any (ask my wife, I have been wrong before…LOL)

Click on the class below to see the region assignments… Remember Clinton is now in Class AA, Thornwell in Class A and Laurens remains in Class AAAA.

Also note that any school with ** behind its name does NOT play football.

Class AAAAA

Class AAAA

Class AAA

Class AA

Class A

Sports Talk Media Morning Sportscast & Other

Sports Talk Media Network Morning Sportscast… For those of you who listen to WLBG each weeknight between 6:00 and 8:00 pm you know that we carry Sports Talk each evening… They are now offering a Morning Sportscast each weekday morning done by the same folks at Sports Talk Media… They could be talking about any high school, college or pro sports that are related in some way to sports in the State of South Carolina… Most of the time they concentrate on college sports… If you would like to listen to any of the most recent sportscast, click on the date below you would like to listen to… Enjoy!

 

Sports Talk Media High School Football Recap… Each week during the high school

football season Sports Talk Media Network does a recap of high school football in the South Carolina… It is about 10 minute long… They have made that recap available to WLBG and I will make it available for you to listen to… Click on the week below to hear it… Enjoy!

2023 Laurens County Touchdown Club Information and Videos

For Information about the 2023 Edition of the Laurens County Touchdown Clubs such as meeting dates, guest speakers and cost click here.

To find out more about the club including how to join click here.

 

To see videos of the majority of each club meeting click on the dates below to open a links to YouTube where the video can be seen.  Newer videos will be at the top and older below them.

 

  • 12-13-2023:  Awards Banquet: On Wednesday, 12-13-23 at The Ridge the Laurens County Touchdown Club held its final meeting of the season their annual Awards Banquet… After the local coaches spoke about the season just completed and Mrs. Julie Lawson presented awards to each schools Lakelands FCA Character Award Winners… Todd Summers sportscaster for WSPA TV then spoke… After a slide show, the All-County Team whose members had already been announced were recognized and presented their awards… To see a list of those who made the All-County Team and received the FCA Awards click hereIt was then time to announce the Coach of the Year which went to Coach Corey Fountain of Clinton HS and the Player of the Year which went to Kadon Crawford also of Clinton HS… To see video of the meeting as soon as it has been uploaded to YouTube, click here… Congratulation to Coach Fountain and Kadon Crawford as well as all the other award winners!

 

 

  • 11-16-23: The Laurens County Touchdown Club met on Thursday, 11-16-2023 at The Ridge on Exchange Drive.… Most of the local coaches brought players and talked about recent games… Tushawan Richardson and Aumar Robinson both from Clinton High School were honored as the Club’s most recent Players of the Week… It was also the annual Clemson – Carolina meeting with features speakers Patrick DiMarco from USC and Danny Pearman of Clemson talking not only about the upcoming “State Championship Game” but also other things like NIL money and the transfer portal… The next meeting of the Touchdown Club will be the Annual Awards Banquet where the All-County Team, Player of the Yean and Coach of the Year are announced…. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 12th at The Ridge on Exchange Drive in Laurens

 

  • 11-2-23: The Laurens County Touchdown Club met Thursday, 11-2-23 at noon at The Ridge… In addition to the local coaches talking about recent games and upcoming playoff games, the featured speaker will be former Clemson University and Pittsburgh Steeler great Levon Kirkland.  Kirkland currently is the Vice President of Development for the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame… Brett Young and Tushawan Richardson were also honored as the club’s two most recent Players of the Week… They are pictured here with Mr. Kirkland, congratulations to them!

 

  • 10-19-23: On Thursday, 10-19-23, the Laurens County Touchdown Club held its fifth meeting of the year at noon at The Ridge on Exchange Drive… The local high school coaches talked about their two most recent games and about the upcoming game the next night…  They all brought along players and introduced them to the members and quest present… Also, the two most recent Laurens County Farm Bureau Players of the Week were brought forward and received their awards…  They were Josh Goodwin Javaye Suber both from Laurens District 55 HS… The featured speaker was Scott Earley, New Executive Director of SCAC… The next meeting of the TD Club will be on Thursday, 11-2-23 at noon at The Ridge

 

  • No video available for 10-5-23 meeting, sorry.

 

  • 9-21-23: On Thursday, 9-21-23, the Laurens County Touchdown Club held its third meeting of the year at noon at The Ridge on Exchange Drive. The local high school coaches talked about their two most recent games and about the upcoming game the next night. They all brought along players and introduced them to the members and quest present. Also, the two most recent Laurens County Farm Bureau Players of the Week were brought forward and received their awards. They were Travious Quarles Thornwell Charter and Buddy Baker of Laurens Academy. The featured speaker was Coach Todd Knight, Newberry College Head Football Coach. The next meeting of the TD Club will be on Thursday, 10-5-23 at noon at The Ridge

 

  • 9-7-23: The local high school coaches talked about their two most recent game and about the upcoming game the next night.   They all brought along players and introduced them to the members and quest present.  Also, the two most recent Laurens County Farm Bureau Players of the Week were brought forward and received their awards.   They were Brett Young of Clinton HS and Garrett Murphy of Laurens Academy.  The featured speaker was Coach Steve Englehart Head Coach of the PC football team.

 

  • 8-24-23: Local coaches talking about their teams and Laurens Travija Austin being honored as the first Player of the Week.

2022 Laurens County TD Club Information & Videos

For Information about the 2022 Edition of the Laurens County Touchdown Clubs such as meeting dates, guest speakers and cost click here to see the club flyer.

NOTE: The date of the Annual Awards Banquet has been changed to Wednesday, January 11th, 2023. It will still start at 7:00 pm and all other aspects of the banquet will remain the same.

To see videos of the majority of each club meeting click on the links blow. Newer videos will be at the top and older below them.

  • 11-17-2022: The Laurens County Touchdown Club met at noon at The Ridge on Thursday, 11-7-2022… In addition to the local coaches giving updates on their football games for the last two weeks, it was also Carolina –Clemson Rivals Day…  Representing the Gamecocks was former Laurens High School quarterback and Gamecock quarterback Seth Strickland… Representing the Clemson Tigers was Robbie Caldwell the former offensive line coach for the Tigers who is still on their staff… Also Gemire Darden and Justin Copeland were honored for being the last two Players of the Week… To see that video, click here.
  • 11-3-2022: Local coaches and Mike Ayers former Wofford Football Coach… Clarence Bartoli of Laurens Academy and Jay Martin of Clinton HS were also honored as the most recent Laurens County Farm Bureau Insurance Players of the Week… To see the video, click here
  • 10-20-22: Local Coaches and Bobby Lamb of Anderson University… Jordan Roberts and Cayson Elledge were honored as the most recent Laurens County Farm Bureau Insurance Players of the Week… To see the video, click here
  • 10-6-22: Local Coaches and Chris Burgin of SC Sports Talk… Jayden Robinson and Bryson James were honored as the most recent Laurens County Farm Bureau Insurance Players of the Week… To see the video, click here
  • 9-22-22: Local coaches and Shell Dula… Jordan Roberts and Clarence Bertoli were also be honored as the Players of the Week for the last two weeks at the meeting… To see the video, click here.
  • 9-8-22: Local coaches and Coach Steve Englehart of PC… Dequavious Dendy and Bryson James were also be honored as the Players of the Week for the last two weeks at the meeting… To see the video, click here.
  • 8-25-22: Local coaches talking about their teams and Bryson James being honored as the first Player of the Week… If you would like to see that video, click here

2021 Laurens County TD Club Information

 

2020 Laurens County Touchdown Club Information

 

The Laurens County Touchdown Club 2020 is kicking off its season at The Ridge in Laurens on September 24th at 12noon.

We were forced to kick off the TD Club later this year due to our Raiders and Devils starting in late September but we are excited that we are now ready to go. Of course the Presbyterian College Blue Hose football team is not playing this season but they will be represented especially in the second meeting on October the 8th when Coach Tommy Spangler will be the guest speaker.

The meetings will be held in the gym at the Ridge this year, so as to give us more space for social distancing.

One new feature this year is that the TD Club is now honoring one high school player each week as our Laurens County Player of the week.

The full schedule of speakers is as follows:

  • September 24th… Local high school coaches
  • October 8th … Tommy Spangler Head Coach at PC
  • October 22nd… Shell Dula Executive Director of SC Coaches Association and a Laurens native
  • November 5th… Head Coach Brian Turk of Limestone University
  • November 19th… Former Gamecock great Connor Shaw and former Tiger great Jeff Davis.
  • December 2nd Annual Banquet… Pete Yanity Sports Director at WSPA TV.

Membership is $150 which includes one ticket to the Annual Banquet. To see the brochure this also has the application form and more information about where to send the form click here.

If you still have questions about membership or want to inquire about sponsorship opportunities contact Marlene Owings at 864-833-2716 or by email at mowings@laurenscounty.org.

Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame Announces 2020 Class

Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame Announces Five New Members… On Thursday, April 30, 2020 the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame will be inducting five new members as part of its fourth class… They are:

Shell Dula – A Laurens native and very successful high school football coach.

Buddy Jennings – He led the Laurens Raider to back-to-back state football championships in 1983 and 1984.

Ann Simmons Dean Parks – She played on Ware Shoals Hornet basketball teams that went 42-0 with two back-to-back state championships and then went on to coach at Clinton HS.

Edward Pitts – A Clinton native who Clinton native who played football at Clinton from 1952- 55 and then at South Carolina from 1956-1959 winning several post-season honors and was gamecock Club Director for 22 years.

Roy Walker – Played on the Clinton HS 1975 state championship team and went on to play at PC where he was an outstanding offensive tackle picking up several post-season awards.

For more information about these honorees, current members of the Laurens County Sports Hall of fame and how to get your tickets for the banquet on April 30th at The Ridge starting at 6:30 pm, click here.

An Interview With New Laurens Raider Head Football Coach Daryl Smith

 

On Tuesday, February 11, 2020 Laurens School district 55 announced that Daryl Smith has been selected to be the next head football coach at Laurens District 55 High School (LDHS). Coach Smith was the defensive coordinator on this past season’s Raider football team that won the Region I-AAAAA Champion ship going 7-0 in region play and 9-2 overall.

That same day we did a short interview with Coach Smith talking about his past coaching experiences and what he plans for the Raiders going forward. To see the interview with Coach Smith click here.

Liner Headed to Greenwood

Early this afternoon it was announced that Coach Chris Liner will be leaving Laurens District 55 High School and heading back to Greenwood High School to be the head football coach at his alma mater next season.

Coach Liner just finished his sixth season as leader of the Raiders and the Raider just completed their best year under his leadership. They went 9-2 winning Region I5A Championship with a 7-0 record. They lost to Byrnes in the second round of the playoffs. He was also named the Class 5A Coach of the Year for his team’s performance. In his six years at Laurens. In his six years at Laurens his teams had a combined record of 34-35 and were also the Region Champions in 2016.

Before coming to Laurens, Coach Liner spent six years at the helm of the Ninety Six Wildcats where his teams went 43-26. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant at Greenwood for 11 years under Shell Dula.

Greenwood’s gain is a great loss for the Raiders as not only is Greenwood getting a great coach but an even better man.

To see a press release about this from Laurens District 55, click here.

Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame Announces 2019 Class

The Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame will induct five members into its third class on April 25, 2019.

The induction ceremony will be held at The Ridge at Laurens at 6:30pm.

The process of selecting the third class of the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame began in the summer of 2018. Nominations were taken from Sept. 15 until Dec. 31.

Once nominations were complete, the nominating committee, made up of eight individuals from Laurens County, narrowed the field of 53 nominations down to 10 finalists. The 10 finalists were then taken to the anonymous three-person selection committee that picked the five finalists that will make up the class of 2019.

To be eligible for the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame, nominees must have lived in Laurens County for five years and must be 10 years out of high school.

Current members of the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame include: Keith Richardson, Chrissy Floyd, J.D. Fuller, Kevin Long, King Dixon, Barry Atkinson, Cally Gault, Sam Owens, Kinard Littleton, Rickey Foggie, Truman Owens, Bobby Ivey and Chick Galloway.

“After two great classes of inductees, we are excited about the group that we have assembled to induct in 2019,” said Billy Dunlap, president of the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame. “It is once again a who’s who of individuals that have been involved in the sports landscape of Laurens County for the past century. I think the committees did a great job of selecting this class and it is something that we can all be proud of.”

Members of the class of 2019 of the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame are:

 William Hill – Hill was a three-sport athlete at Presbyterian College, playing basketball, football and running track. He attended PC on a football scholarship. At PC, Hill was named to the All-Decade team, started on the 1959 Tangerine Bowl team and still holds the record for most interceptions in a season with 11. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL and the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL. Hill played two seasons with the Eskimos.

 Bill Hogan – Hogan was a pioneer in sports broadcasting in SC. At WLBG AM/FM, Hogan expanded the footprint of the local station to include high school and college sports throughout the Upstate of SC. He was the play-by-play announcer for Laurens High School, Presbyterian College and Furman University. Hogan also hosted a statewide high school football scoreboard show, a first of its kind at the time. 

Lonnie Pulley – Pulley led the Laurens Raiders to a football state championship in 1983. That same year, he was Shrine Bowl MVP, All-State, SC Back of the Year and named to the Adidas All-American team. He played collegiately at Winston Salem State University from 1984-1987, winning the CIAA championship and named all-conference in 1987. 

Phil Rogers – Rogers played for the legendary Coach Frank Howard at Clemson University from 1964-1968. He was a starter at receiver for three seasons, setting records that stood for over 40 years for most catches in a game (11) and most catches in a career (106). Rogers played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968 and the New Orleans Saints in 1971. At Clinton High School, Rogers played football, basketball, baseball and ran track. Inducted posthumously into the Clemson University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.

 Clovis Simmons – Simmons is currently in her 28th year as the head boys and girls tennis coach at Clinton High School. During her tenure at CHS, Simmons has won 33 conference coach of the year awards and taken her team to the state finals 13 times, winning the boys championship in 2000. She has served 24 years as the SCHSL boys and girls singles tournament director.

 Tickets for the induction banquet will go on sale on Monday, March 25 at the Clinton and Laurens YMCAs. Individual tickets are $25 and includes a meal catered by Lee’s BBQ.

For more information on the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame, visit www.laurenscountysportshalloffame.com or email bdunlap@golaurens.com.

 

Corey Fountain Introduced as New Head Football Coach at Clinton HS

On Tuesday, 2-5-19 Athletic Director Dr. Nickie Templeton and the administration introduced Corey Fountain to the community as the head football coach at Clinton High School.  

Fountain comes to Clinton from Lamar HS where he has been the head coach since 2014 after having served as an assistant since 2012. Prior to that, he served as an assistant coach at Laurens HS and Hillcrest HS. He has led his team to winning seasons since 2014. The 1-A team was Region and Upper State Champions in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. In 2015 and 2017 they were also the 1A Division II State Champions. Fountain received recognition as Region Coach of the Year, SC High School Sports Report Regional Coach of the Year, Class A Upper State Coach of the Year and SC High School League Coach of the Year. 

He is a graduate of Lamar HS and North Greenville University.  

If you would like to see a video shot during the introduction that includes comments from Coach Fountain and a few photos at the end, click here

 

Hunter Benson, Chelsea Hill and Paige Trent Sign at CHS

On Thursday morning (11-15-2018) at CHS three student athletes signed letters of intent to continue their education and athletic careers…. Hunter Benson and Paige Trent both signed with North Greenville University… Paige signed to run cross country and track while Hunter signed to play softball… Chelsea Hill was the third Red Devil to sign and she signed to play soccer at Converse College… After the signings the media interviewed all three of these young ladies and if you would like to see a shot video of those interviews and some photos taken during the signings, click here…. Congratulations to all three of these fine young adults!.

Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame is Now Accepting Nominations for the Class of 2019

The Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame is now accepting nominations for the Class of 2019.

The 2019 induction ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 25 at 6:30pm at The Ridge at Laurens. This ceremony will feature the third class of inductees in the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame.

The Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame was created to honor the men and women that, through sports, have brought pride and honor to Laurens County.

The Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame began in 2017 with the inaugural class. The first class of inductees included Barry Atkinson, King Dixon, Chick Galloway, Cally Gault, JD Fuller, Chrissy Floyd, Keith Richardson and Kevin Long. The Class of 2018 included Rickey Foggie, Kinard Littleton, Truman Owens, Sam Owens and Bobby Ivey.

Nominations for the 2019 class opened on November 1, 2018 and will remain open until December 15, 2018. Nomination forms are available at www.laurenscountysportshalloffame.com

The Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame is open to all Laurens County residents, past and present, with certain criteria.

  • Must have been a resident of Laurens County for five years
  • Must be out of high school for 10 years
  • Main emphasis for selection will be athletic achievement and performance but all nominees should represent the positive aspects of sports in general.
  • Other criteria considered for selection will be: sportsmanship, integrity, citizenship, character, leadership, community and civic contributions to Laurens County, awards and honors. Deceased citizens may be nominated and all nomination forms remain on file each year.

For more information about the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame, contact Billy Dunlap at bdunlap@golaurens.com.

Laurens YMCA 2018 Reindeer Run and Cookies & Cocoa With Santa Information

 

On Friday, December 7th the Laurens Family YMCA will be holding its Cookies and Cocoa PJ Party with Santa.  The event will start at 5:00 pm and run until 9:00 pm.  The cost is $7 per person and for more information about this event, click here  

On Saturday the 19th Annual Reindeer Run will take place starting at 9:00 am and a Fun Run will start at 9:45. There are registration discounts for registration by November 20th and also registration discounts based on the size of teams.  To find out the specifics of that information, how to register and other details click here.

 

If you need more information about either of these call the Laurens Family YMCA at 864-984-2626

 

 

Laurens County TD Club Information and Videos

Once again this year the Laurens County Chamber of Commerce along with some fine community sponsors is presenting The Laurens County Touchdown Club

The Club will meet every other Friday starting on August 24th at The Ride and will start at noon

Please plan to come out for some great food, fellowship and speakers as we honor the athletes and coaches that make up football in Laurens County

Annual membership is only $150 and includes 1 ticket to all 7 regular meetings and 1 ticket for the annual banquet. If you wish to come to an individual meeting, the meal will cost you $15 at the door. Additional tickets for the banquet are also $15 each.

Contact Marlene Owings at 833-2716 or mowings@laurenscounty.org for more information or to join.

The schedule is below and videos of the speakers will be available a few days after the meeting. Past meetings and videos will be moved to the bottom as the year goes on so that the upcoming meeting is at the top. To see the video of the past meetings as posted on YouTube click on the meeting date.


 

 

December 5th – Annual Meeting and Banquet, Tobi Antigha . He is a Presbyterian grad and is a 2nd year player with the Saskatchewan RoughRiders in the Canadian Football League. To see a video of the awards portion of the banquet where the All-County, Coach of the Year and Player of the year were announced click here.

 

Chick on the date of the meeting to go to a video posted on YouTube of the speakers.

August 24 – Local Coaches

September 7th – Shell Dula, Executive Director of the SC Athletic Coaches Association

September 21st – Tommy Spangle, Head Football Coach at PC

October 5th – Gary Patterson, ACC Official and Referee

October 19th – Hunter Reid, Assoc. Athletic Director and SID at Furman University

November 2nd – Brent Thompson, Head Coach at The Citadel

November 16th – Carolina – Clemson Meeting. Langston Moore  Sideline Reporter for USC and Woody McCovey Assoc. A.D. for Football Operations at Clemson

 

 

 

 

Conteras Signs With USC-Union

Wednesday morning (3-21-18) in the auditorium at CHS surrounded by family, friend, parents and teammates, senior goalie Tania Conteras signed a letter of intent to continue her education and soccer career next year at USC-Union playing for the Bantams… Tania has been playing soccer for the Red Devils for at least three years even though this is the first year for girls’ varsity soccer at CHS… Two years ago she played goalie for the JV boys’ team and last year for the first year JV girls’ team… This year the program transitioned to a varsity and JV program and she has become a leader on the pitch for the Red Devils… She also very active around CHS and is a member of the ROTC program… At this point in the season the team is 3-2 on the year… She is the first goalie ever signed by USC-Union… To go to a video interview with her after the signing, click here… There are a few photos at its end made yesterday also… Congratulations to Tania!

Four Sign at LDHS

On Wednesday 2-21-18 in the mini-gym at LDHS four student athletes signed letters of intent to continue their education at three different institutions of higher learning…. As Head Football Coach Chris Liner put it, these are the best of the best in Laurens County… Afterwards video interview were done with each of these young men asking them why they chose their respective institutions and what they plan on doing after college… If you want to see those interviews, click here.

Nathan Rudder… Senior baseball player Nathan Rudder signed to play baseball and continue his education at Montreat College for the Cavaliers… Nathan saw limited duty on the diamond last year as he was recovering from a severe knee injury that occurred during the second game of the 2016 football season… That was his second injury in as many years… he is expected to contribute much more to the Raider baseball team this season whose season starts in a few days.

Troy Dendy… Senior running back Troy Dendy signed with Carson Newman University up in Jefferson City, Tennessee… His sophomore season (2015) he rushed for 847 yards and scored 8 TDs… His junior season (2016) he rushed for 960 yards and scored 10 TDs… This past season he rushed for 935 yards and scored 11 TDs.

Tyrese Moses… Senior linebacker Tyrese Moses was one of two student athletes to sign with PC yesterday… This past season he was second on the team with 33 solo tackles and first in assisted tackles with 33 from his linebacker position.

Braylen Williams… Senior defensive back / linebacker is the other student athlete who signed with PC… Braylen led the team this past season with 66 solo tackles and second on assisted tackles with 32… He also led the team in tackles for loss with 11.

Raiders Participate in Upper State 5-A Individual Wrestling Tournament

On Friday and Saturday (2-16 & 17-2018) several members of the Laurens Raider wrestling team participated in the Upper State Class-AAAAA Individual Wrestling Tournament which was held at LDHS… Chris Jackson led the Raider team finishing third in the 182 lb. class and therefore qualifying for the State Tournament this weekend in Anderson… Other Raiders who were able to pick up at least 1 win on the mats were Damien Ladd (1), Myles Reppart (1), Caleb Reid (3), Jalick Dendy (2), Will Pontoon (2) and Hunter Hamby (2)… To see a weight class by weight class final bracket that shows how the completion went. Click on the following: …Congratulations to not only Chris but to all the Raiders on their showing in the tournament.

Video of Some Matches… I was able to shoot some video of matches involving Chris Jackson, Will Pontoon and Caleb Reid late in the tournament on Saturday.., I also shot a few photos of other Raider wrestlers… To see that video with photos added at the end, click here

CHS Mark Wise Signs With Newberry

On Wednesday, 2-14-18 Clinton HS senior running back and defensive player Mark Wise signed a letter of intent to continue his education and football career at Newberry College… This last season Mark rushed for over 1300 yards in 192 attempts and averaged 6.8 yards per carry and 118.9 per game… He also played on defense in several positions wherever the coaching staff needed him… Below is a link to a short video interview done with Mark by the media where he talks about his reasons for choosing Newberry and what his major and career goals are…… Congratulations to Mark!