Sports Report for Monday, 9-20-2021

Local Notes:

Clinton HS:

  • Clinton 49 – Blue Ridge 7… Last Friday night the Red Devils played host to the Blue Ridge Tigers and ran their record to a perfect 4-0 as they tamed the Tigers by a score of 49-7… The Red Devils got the ball first and scored and never looked back as they scored 27 points in the first quarter and 16 in the second quarter and rolled on to the win… In the big first quarter the Red Devils 19 points on offense as they had a little problem with extra points and the defense got in on the scoring as they tackled the Tigers in their own endzone for a safety and Austin Copeland had a pick-six from 20 yards out… The defense also registered another safety in the second quarter and Bryson James also had a 25 yard pick-six… Blue Ridge only score came in the third quarter on a 39 yard run… Bryson James, Jishun Copeland and Jykorie Gary all had rushing TDs for the Red Devils and Davis Wilson had 2 TD passes one to Wilson Wages and the other to Zechariah Johnston… As you might expect Clinton led in all major statistics like total offense 348 yds. to 144… Bryson James led the Red Devils rushing attack with 83 yards in 3 rushes… To see more information on this game including all the stats and a play by play accounting of the game click here… The Red Devils will host the Newberry Bulldogs next Friday.

 Laurens HS:

  • River Bluff 21 – Laurens 14 (3OT)… The Laurens Raiders traveled down to the Lexington area last Friday night to take on the River Bluff Gators… I think by now most of you have heard that the Gators took a 21-14 win over the Raiders in a game that was really a tough pill for the Raiders to swallow… The Gators scored with 4:35 left in the first half and with the PAT the score stood 7-0…Mistakes and penalties caused the Raider drives to stall numerous times in the game but the Raiders were able to tie the game with 1:40 left on the lock on a 9 yd. run by James Rawl that was set up by a long 54 yard pass from Rawl to Pe’rel Shands that set up Rawl’s score on the next play… Roberto Luna’s PAT tied the game… The Raider defense held the Gators on their next possession and a poor punt by the Gators gave the ball to the Raiders at the Raider 49 yd. line with 1:10 left to play… The Raiders moved down the field and attempted a 35 yd. field goal with 5 seconds left which missed….River Bluff took a knee and the game went into overtime… In the first overtime, Gemire Darden intercepted a Gator pass and returned it for an apparent TD which the officials said he could not do… The Raiders then fumbled the ball away during their possession in the first OT… In the second OT the Raiders scored on a 10 yd. run by Darden and the extra point was good by Luna…. The Gators answered with a 12 yard passing TD on fourth down and with the PAT the score stood 14-14 and the teams went into a third overtime…River Bluff got the ball first and scored from 7 yards out on a run and the score went to 21-14… On fourth down from the 8 yd. line the Gators intercepted a Rawl pass and that gave them the win… The stats were just about even with Laurens having more turnovers (5) than River Bluff (3) and that really proved to be a big difference in the game… To see the game stats click here…. Laurens travels to North Augusta to take on the Yellow Jackets this Friday.
  • Drives and Plays Recap of the Game
    • In the first quarter of play neither team was able to mount a sustained drive although both did get into each other’s side of the field… On the first of the Gators third possession of the game, the Gators fumbled and the Raiders Isaac Craig recovered the ball at the Gator 33 yard line… On the Raiders first play after the fumble recovery James Rawl had a pass intercepted at the Gator 2 yard line and returned 25 yards.
    • Second Quarter… The Raider defense then forced them to go 3 and out and punt the ball to the Raiders… They then went 3 and out and punted right back to the Gators who set up shop on the 50 yard line… Nine plays ;later they scored on a pass and added the PAT to make it 7-0 with 4:35 left in the first half…The Raiders picked up a couple of first downs but had to punt it back to the Raiders as the Raider defense held them to 3 and out… The half ended with the Raiders barley in Gator territory
    • Third Quarter… The Raiders got the ball foist to open the second half and drove to the Gator 21 before a penalty and a fumble ended the drive… River Bluff drove to the Laurens 9 yard line only to have a pass picked off in the endzone by Michael Mankaka who brought it out to the Raider 5 yard line… The Raiders then drove into Gator territory only to have a Rawl pass tipped at the line of scrimmage and fall into the hands of a Gator lineman to end the Raider drive.
    • Fourth Quarter… After the interception, the Gators went all the way down the field and had the ball on the Raider 2 yd. line with a first down and goal to go… The Raiders then held at the one on two plays and held again after the Gators were moved back to the 6 yd. line and the Raiders took over at the 4 yard line… The Raiders could not move the ball and were forced to punt but so did the Gators on their next possession… After the Gator punt the, the Raiders took over with 2:55 left in the game and moved the ball down to the Gator 9 yd. line mainly on a 54 yd. pass from James Rawl to Pe’rel Shands and from there Rawl carried it in and Roberto Luna added the PAT top tie the game 7-7 with 1:40 left in the contest… The Raider defense stood tall forcing the Gators to 3 and out giving the Raiders the ball back on their own 49 with 1:10 left to play… The Raiders moved down the field and attempted a 35 yd. field goal with 5 seconds left that sailed wide right and the game ended in a tie.
    • First OT.. Laurens won the toss and let the Gators go first… After a couple of penalties moved the Gators from the 10 to the 27 yd. line Gemire Darden picked off a Gator pass to end their threat… He actually ran the ball all the way back for an apparent TD but the official said no it was dead when he intercepted it (what???)…  On their third play in the overtime, a Raider fumble was recovered by the Gators so the team went to overtime.
    • Second OT… The Raiders had the ball first in the second OT and Darden promptly carried it in from 10 yds. out and Luna’s PAT made it 14-7 Raiders… The Raider defense held the Gators to -2 yard on their first 3 play of the overtime and they managed to stay in the game on a 12 yd. TD pass on 4th down to tie the game 14-14.
    • Third OT… The Gators had the ball first in the third OT and scored in 2 plays and added the PAT to make it 21-14 Gators… The Raiders gained a net 2 yards in their first three plays of the overtime and on fourth down Rawl tried to hit a Raider in the endzone but it was picked off to give the Gators the win. 

Laurens Academy:

Generals 42 – Crusaders 12… The Crusaders hosted the Generals of Cathedral Academy out of North Charleston last Friday night… The news is not what I like to report in that the Generals took a 42-12 win over the Crusaders… The Crusader scores both came on passes from freshman quarterback to Garrett Murphy to senior Cal Robertson (75 yds.) and senior Diamonte Grant (15tds)… The Crusaders will be idle this next week as they have an open date.


High School Football Scores, Schedules and Standings

  • Thanks to scfootballstats.com you can now see last weekend’s scores for all games by classification… You can also see the standings in each region by classification… To see this information click here

Broadcast Schedule: Below is a list of dates, times and teams that we plan on broadcasting live on Real Radio WLBG… And as usual you can hear it live on 860AM, 104.1 FM and the internet at www.wlbg.com… All of the following are weather and COVID dependent and are varsity games… If it is a varsity football game, coverage will begin about 6:05 pm with the Friday Night Insiders program.

  • Friday, 9-24-21: Varsity Football, Laurens at North Augusta, 7:30

Local Sports Schedule: All schedules subject to change right up to game time due to COVID 19




College Notes:

  • College Football Schedule and Scores… If you click here it will carry you to the NCAA web site where they have college football scores and schedules available… Once you get there you can select the week and football division you want to look at… Other filters are also available such at top 25 and by conference.



 Pro Sports: For more information on the game(s) below, click on the score at the beginning.

Major League Baseball

Braves… The Braves played a three game series with the giants over the weekend out on the west coast

  • Friday: Giants 6 – Braves 5 (11)… In the first game on Friday the Braves fell by a score of 6-5 with the Giants scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning on a one-out sacrifice fly by Kevin Gausman to give them the walk-off win… The Braves actually outhit the Giants 9-8 and had a two-run homer by Travis d’Arnaud (7) but the Giants had two homers.
  • Saturday: Giants 2 – Braves 0…   On Saturday the Giants shutout the Braves taking a 2-0 win… The Giants scored two runs in the 4th inning and made them stand up.
  • Sunday: Braves 3 – Giants 0… Yesterday the Braves avoided being swept by the Giants as they turned the tables and took a 3-0 win over the Giants… The Braves scored all their runs in the 7th inning on a pair of homers the first a two-run homer by Adam Duvall (36) and the other a solo shot by Eddie Rosario (12)… The Braves will start a four-game series with the Diamondbacks in Arizona tonight.

Greenville Drive… Check back tomorrow

Schedules… To see the latest scores and daily schedule for all of MLB click here.

MLB Standings… To check on the division standings for all of MLB click here.


NFL

  • Schedule…To see the NFL schedule for this week and results after the games are finished click here.

NASCAR

  • NASCAR Schedule and Results… If you click here it will carry you to the NASCAR website where the Cup Series schedule and results are posted… Once you get there if you look near the top of the page you can change to the Xfinity schedule and results or the Camping World Truck Series schedule and results by clicking on the appropriate icon.
  • Driver Standings… If you click here it will carry you to the NASCAR website where the Cup Series driver standings are posted… Once you get there if you look near the top of the page you can change to the Xfinity driver standings or the Camping World Truck Series driver standings by clicking on the appropriate icon.



This & That:

  • 2021 Raider Football 2nd Annual Golf Tournament… There will be a golf tournament at Lakeside CC on 10-23-21 to benefit the Raider Football program to by equipment and help pay for camps… The cost is $400 per team… For more information about the tournament including sponsorship opportunities cost of mulligans click here… To register or if you have any other questions contact Corey Graydon at 864-871-0099 or Bubba Rawl at 864-304-3042…. Go Raiders!

 

  • Board Operator Position(s) Open… If you ever wondered how the “magic works” to get sports on the air here on WLBG or wanted to be part of the WLBG crew now is your chance… We at WLBG are looking for a person or persons to run the board at the station during our broadcast of athletic events… If you want more information and think you might be interested in email me at sports@wlbg.com or text me at 864-981-3470 and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible (but not while I am on the air… LOL).

 

  • Single Game Football Tickets on Sale at CHS… Information has been released concerning the purchase of individual contest tickets for home contest at Clinton HS and Clinton MS… The preferred method of sale for all athletic contests at both schools will still be online but a few tickets for varsity football will be offered for sale at 4 local businesses… There will also be a very few tickets for sale at the ticket booth the day of the contest… For more information on this I encourage you to click here to go to the CHS Athletic website where there is a posting that gives you much more information about this including price, the businesses where the varsity football tickets can be purchased,  procedure to purchase online tickets and much more… Please check it out… Go Big Red!

 

  • Single Game Football Tickets, Parking and KC Hanna Stadium Info… For information on purchasing single game tickets at LDHS along with parking information as well as safety practices in place for KC Hanna Stadium, click hereGo Raiders!

 

  • Laurens County TD Club… Once again the Laurens County TD Club has a full slate of very interesting speakers lined up for its meetings every other week during the football season out at The Ridge starting at noon on Thursdays… There are several levels of sponsorship available and of course you can just come on the day of the meeting for a small fee… Now for a complete list of speakers and other information about the club, click here… If you still have questions, contact Marlene Owings at 864-833-2716 or by email at mowings@laurenscounty.org…. The next meeting will be Thursday, September 23rd and in addition to the local coaches the featured speaker will be Al Richard former Clinton HS and Clemson University standout.

 

 

If you have any comments, suggestions, or want to reports scores, please contact me via email at: sports@wlbg.com or text me at 864-981-3470.