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.
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 suggestions 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.
Local Notes
Clinton HS
- Broome at Clinton Tonight… The Red Devils are the only high school still playing and they are set to host the Broome Centurions tonight at 7:30 in Wilder Stadium… Both teams enter the contest with a 9-2 record and faced 3 common opponents this season… Both lost to Chapman (Broome 38-35 and Clinton 22-21) but both defeated Union County and Woodruff by similar margins… If you want to see a side-by-side comparison of the two teams that includes their schedules and results, click here… Go Big Red!
- Ticket Reminder… As per SCHSL Rules, the cost of tickets tonight will be $10… You can purchase tickets at the gate (cash only) or you can purchase them online and if you wish to do that click here… Also remember that only SCHSL passes will be accepted, anyone over the age of 6 must have a ticket to enter the game and the parking pass that came with season tickets will still be honored but you must purchase a ticket to get in.
- Cross Country… I want to wish the Red Devil boys’ cross country team Good Luck as they participate in the State Class AAA Meet this weekend… Go Big Red!
Laurens HS
- Boys Cross Country… Two member of the Raider boys’ crops country team qualified for the State Class AAAA Championship Meet this weekend… They are Cody Patterson and Hunter Power… Good Luck to them also… Go Raiders!
Laurens Academy
- Madison Sherman Signs… Yesterday at Laurens Academy in front of family,
friends, teammates and others, Madison Sherman signed a letter of intent to continue her education and volleyball career up at North Greenville University playing for another set of Crusaders… Coach Todd Kirk told all present of the work and dedication both on the court and off the court it took for her to get to this point… He also thanked the family for their tremendous support of her… She has been a significant part of the Crusader volleyball team and helped them to win the last two SCISA Class A Volleyball Championships… She has received numerous awards through her career that was capped off by her being named to and playing for the SCISA North Class A Volleyball All-Star team which lost only to a Class AAAA All-Star Team by just a couple of points… Click here to see a video interview done with her after the signing followed by a few pictures… Congratulations to Madison!
Other Area Football Games Tonight of Local Interest
- Class AAAAA
- Dutch Fork @ TL Hanna
- Gaffney @ Clover
- Spartanburg @ JL Mann
- Hillcrest @ Byrnes
- Class AAAA
- Greenville @ Greer
- Greenwood @ Northwestern
- York @ Westside
- Class AAA
- Wren @ Daniel
- Chester @ Chapman
- Pendleton @ BHP… The winner of this game will play the winner of the Broome @ Clinton game.
- Class AA
- Newberry @ Abbeville
- Keenan @ Strom Thurmond
- Chesnee @ Gray Colligate
- Class A
- McBee @ Christ Church
- Southside Christian @ Calhoun County
- St Joseph’s @ Lewisville
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 weekend produced by Sports Talk Media, click here.
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:
- Sports Talk College Football Preview… Each week during the Friday Night Insiders we brought you a college football preview put out by the folks at Sports Talk Media… Since we are not having toe Friday Night Insiders program any more this season I thought I would make it available for you here… Click here to listen to this week’s edition.
- 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 (11-4-23) 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, Penn State and Ole Miss which moved up from 11 to #10… To see the entire top 25 click here.
- FCS Coaches Poll… The latest FCS Coaches Poll (11-5-23) for college football still has South Dakota State ranked #1 Furman as #2 after their come-from-behind 17-14 win over Chattanooga last Saturday … That means that Furman moved up a spot and now is #2…To see the entire top 25 in the Coaches Poll click here.
- College Football Playoff Rankings… The latest College Football Playoff rankings (11-4-23) are still a little different from the AP Poll… They still have Ohio State at #1 and Georgia #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… That means that if the season were over and the committee that does the rankings still had theses 4 teams in the same order, Ohio State would take on Florida State in one semifinal game while Georgia and Michigan would battle in the other one… Of course, we have a way to go before the season ends and this is all subject to change… If you want to see the entire top 25 as ranked by the committee, click here.
Pro Sports: For more information on the game(s) below, click on the scores.
NASCAR
- Ross Chastain wins Final Cup Series Race of the Season / Blaney Takes Championship… Ross Chastain won the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series last Sunday out in Phoenix while Ryan Blaney finished second… I doubt that Blaney felt too bad about finishing second as he won his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship of his career… This was the first time in 10 years of the elimination playoff format, the NASCAR Cup Series champion failed to win the title race… Click here for more information on the race including a link to the final order of finish for each of the drivers.
- Playoff Standings… As mentioned above, Ryan Blaney finished first in the driver standings thus picking up his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship of his career… Kyle Larson finished second, William Byron third and Christopher Bell fourth… To see the complete standings for the playoffs, 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 November 16th… 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 6th 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!
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.
