Local Notes
Clinton HS
- Clinton 18 – Blythewood 7… The Red Devils were down in Chapin Friday night taking on Blythewood in a half of football… Clinton won by a score of 18-7… The following is a quote from the State Newspaper about the contest…” Clinton is legit: One of the best performances of the night came from Clinton in the 18-7 win over Blythewood. The Red Devils, No. 2 in the Class 2A poll, were dominant with its spread version of the wing-T… DJ Clark made some big plays at running back, and their offensive line could compete on any level and is led by Division I prospect Tre Aiken.”…To see the posting which out with other midland jamboree scores and other information, click here.
- CHS Athletic Booster Club… It’s not too early to think about joining the CHS Athletic Booster Club for next season… To learn more about the booster club and its benefits, click here… That will carry you to a form where more information is available and you can also print out and use that form to join the booster club… They really do help all the sports put the “Go” in Go Big Red!
- Red Devils Featured on Channel 7… Last Friday night while the Red Devils were down at Chapin and participating in the jamboree Channel 7 WSPA featured the Red Devils during their 6:00 pm newscast as part of their Countdown to Kickoff… If you want to see the short video they ran after a short commercial click here.
Laurens HS
- Century Club Membership… The Laurens District 55 High school Athletics Booster Club is now taking applications for new Century Club membership of renewal of old memberships for the 2024-2025 school year… Asa quick reminder, joining the Century Club gets you two reserved-seat season tickets to Raider regular season home football games (during playoffs your seat is reserved but you must to get in because of SCHSL rules), a reserved parking pass and an “All-Sport” athletic pass that admits two to any Raider regular season home contest in any sport (again SCHSL rules require payment for playoffs). There are other things available to Century Club members… For much more information about the Century Club and who to contact if you have questions, click here… If join quickly you can pick up your membership packet at Meet the Raiders on August 16th… If you would like to join electronically, click here… This is the best way to show your support for the Raiders!
Laurens Academy
- Murphy TD Club Player of the Week… For his performance in last Friday’s 56-20
win by the Laurens Academy Crusaders, Garrett Murphy has been chosen as the Laurens County Touchdown Club’s first Player of the Week for this season… Murphy had an outstanding night for the Crusaders on both Offense and Defense… Offensively he had 107 yards rushing on 10 carries for three touchdowns… He also had one catch for three yards and one 2-point conversion as well. Defensively Murphy had three total tackles and one tackle for loss and one sack… Head Coach Jolly Doolittle stated, “Garrett is an extremely hard worker and a gifted athlete who leads the team by example. He prepares well, practices well and is one of our best players.”… He will be honored this Thursday when the TD Club meets for the first time this season out at The Ridge on Exchange Drive at noon with the local high school coaches being the featured speakers. - Crusaders 56 – Cambridge 20… The Laurens Academy Crusaders opened their season with a bang last Friday as they traveled to Greenwood to take on the Cambridge Academy Cougars and defeated them 56-20 with a running clock in the second half… The Crusaders got the ball first and on the opening kickoff Spires McCameron retuned it for a little over 70 yards and Caleb Hardy carried it in for the 2-point conversion to make it 8-0 Crusaders with 11:48 showing on the clock and it was pretty much all Crusaders from there as they led 44-14 at the half
- How it happened:
- After the kickoff return for a score, the Crusaders held the Cougar and forced a short punt.
- The Crusader took over on their own 40 yd. line… Eight plays later Garrett Murphy scored from 11 yds. out and Ethan Collins picked up the 2-oiint conversion to make it 16-0 Crusaders with 5:25 left in the 1st quarter.
- The Cougars then fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Nathan Bell to give the Crusaders the ball at the Cambridge 26 yd. line… Three plays later, Spires McCameron carried it in from 10 yds. out but the conversion failed so the score stood 22-0 Crusaders with 4:26 left in the 1st quarter.
- The Cougars finally got on the scoreboard with 3:24 left in the quarter as they scored on a 55 yd. pass but failed on the conversion to make it 2-6 Crusaders with 3:24 ;left in the 1st quarter.
- The Crusaders then took over on the their on 30 yd. line after the kickoff and drove down the field in 11 plays with Caleb Hardy carrying the ball in from 8 yds. out… Ethan Collins then hit Elijah Hornberger in the endzone for the 2-point conversion to make it 30-6 with 9:35 left in the half.
- The Cougars did pick up some yardage on their next drive but turned the ball over on downs at their own 49 yd. line… It took the Crusaders just 5 plays to cover that distance and score with Caleb Hardy soring again this time from the 8 yd. line… McCameron picked up the 2-point conversion to make it 38-6 with 5:34 in the half.
- The Cougars then started having some success with their passing game and scored with 5.9 seconds left in the half and added the 2-point conversion to make it 38-14 Crusaders.
- The Cougars then tried an onside kick which was covered by Anthony Candelas for the Crusaders at their own 48 yd. line with 4.5 seconds left in the half… A lot of coaches would have taken the knee and head into the break but Ethan Collins decided to carry it in from that spot and scored with no time on the clock to make it 44-14 as the 2-point conversion failed.
- The second half had a running clock and the Crusaders scored only 2 TDs… The first one saw a Crusader rusher tackled just before crossing the goal line and fumbled into the endzone where Caleb Hardy fell on the ball for the score and the other was on short run by Mason Cooper just before the end of the game.
- The Cougars did score again between those two Crusader scores on a long pass play and the final was 56-20 Crusaders as all 2-point conversion failed in the second half.
- Game Stats…below are a few game stats thanks to Luke Tollison and the LA coaching staff.
- Passing
- Ethan Collins 5-8 for 39 yards
- Elias Littleton 1-2 for 1 yard
- Rushing
- Garret Murphy 10 rushes 107 yards 3 td
- Caleb Hardy 9 rushes 50 yards 2 td
- Ethan Collins 4 rushes 85 yards 1 td
- Spires McCameron 2 rushes 8 yards 1 td
- Mason Cooper 8 rushes 71 yards 1 td
- Elijah Hornberger 4 rushes 29 yards
- Receiving
- Caleb Hardy 2 catches 18 yards
- Nathan Bell 2 catches 18 yards
- Garret Murphy 1 catch 3 yards
- Eli Garret 1catch 0 yards
- Defense
- Caleb Hardy 3.5 tackles
- Garrison Vaughan 2 tackles 1 TFL 1 sack 1 fumble recovery
- Nathan Bell 1.5 tackles
- Hack Hardy 3 tackles
- Spires McCameron 2 tackle 1 PBU
- Elijah Hornberger 2 tackles
- Garret Murphy 3 tackles
- Mason Cooper 1 tackle
- Total Yards
- Cambridge Academy
- Rush yards=24 yards
- Pass yards=123 yards
- Laurens Academy
- Rush yards= 350 yards
- Pass yards= 39 yards
- Passing
- How it happened:
- Up Next for the Crusaders… The Crusaders will head down to Newberry Academy for a 7:30 pm game with the Eagles… This is the first of 2 games they will play against each other and this one will not count as a region game.
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.
Broadcast Notes… We plan on brining you the following contest here on Real Radio WLBG… If it is a varsity football game we will start our broadcast about 6:25 pm with the Friday Night Insiders… Remember all sports broadcast are streamed live on the internet at www.wlbg.com.
- Friday, August 23rd… Varsity football Hillcrest at Laurens.
- Thursday, August 29th… JV football Clinton at Laurens, 6:30
- Friday, August 30th… Varsity football Laurens at Clinton
Local Sports Schedules: 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: Click on each of the following to see their schedule: Varsity Football, Middle Scholl Football and Varsity /MS Volleyball. .
- Thornwell: To see the Thornwell varsity volleyball schedule and results click here
- PC Sports Calendar… To see the PC athletics sports calendar, click here.
College Sports: For any game mentioned below, click on the score for more details if available.
College Football
- College Football Playoff Information…. Recently there was an article that was on USA Today and the Greenville News about how teams for the expanded college playoffs for FBS teams will be chosen… Playoff ranking dates were also announced and they will start on Tuesday Nov. 5th… The people who are on the selection committee are also listed in that article… The college football playoff dates and game locations are also listed with the National Championship being played on Monday, January 20, 2025 in Atlanta… To read that article click here… By the way, Good Lord willing, that will be my birthday… I’ll gladly accept a ticket to the game if anyone wants to give me one as birthday present!
Pro Sports: For more information on the game(s) below, click on the scores at the start of the section.
Atlanta Braves… The Braves played a weekend series out in California against the Angels.
- Friday: Angels 3 – Braves 2… On Friday both teams scored 2 runs in the 4th inning and then the Angels added another run in the 6th inning and made it stand up as they took a 3-2 win…. The Braves actually outhit the Angels 8-6 (all singles) but the Angels out-homered the Braves 1-0… Marcell Ozuna was the only Brave with more than 1 hit as he went 3-4.
- Saturday: Braves 11 – Angels 3… Saturday the Braves scored 3 runs in the 1st inning and then went on to take an 11-3 win over the Angels… The Braves also scored 5 runs in the 5th inning which did a lot to help insure the win… The Braves only outhit the Angels 12-11 but on Saturday they out-homered the Angels 3-0… Marcell Ozuna (36) had a 2 run homer as part of the 3 runs scored in the 1st inning, Whit Merrifield (4) had a solo homer in the 5th inning and Ramon Laureano (6) had a 2-run homer in the 5th inning.
- Sunday: Braves 3 – Angels 1… Sunday the Braves took a 3-1win over the Angels thus winning the series 2 games to 1… The Braves simply outhit the Angels 8-3and one of their 8 hits was a solo homer by Ramon Laureano his 7th homer of the season… Charlie Morton (7-7) picked up the win giving up the 1 earned run on 2 hits while striking out 7 and walking 2 in 5⅓ innings of work.
- Up Next for the Braves… The Braves are off tonight and will start a 3-game series with the Phillies in Atlanta tomorrow night.
- Season Schedule… If you would like to see the Braves season schedule, click here… It should also show where the game will be televised if it is televised. .
- Other Scores… If you would like to see the scores of other MLB games click here.
- Standings… To see the MLB Standings click here… Once you get there you will see the standing by league (American or National) and also by division.
Greenville Drive… As a reminder the Drive won 2 of the first 3 games coming into Friday’s game.
- Friday: Drive 1 – Iron Birds 0… The Greenville Drive scored the only run of the game in the 2nd inning when with the bases loaded Andy Lugo was hit by a pitch scoring Hudson Whit… This was a pitcher’s duel as 2 Drive pitchers gave up only 2 hits while 4 Iron Bird pitchers gave up just 3 hits.
- Saturday: Drive 5 – Iron Birds 3… On Saturday the Drive scored 5 runs in the 5th inning and made them stand up as they took a 5-3 win over the Iron Birds despite the Iron Birds outhitting them 8-5… All the runs in the game were scored playing small ball and 8 walks by the Iron Bird pitchers definitely aided the Drive.
- Sunday: Iron Birds 6 – Drive 3… Yesterday the Iron Birds were able to take a 6-3 win over the Drive but the Drive still took the series win 4-2… The Iron Birds only outhit the Drive 8-7 but the Drive had some errors in the game so that only 4 of the Irion Birds 6 runs were earned…Once again all the runs were scored playing small ball as neither team had a homer.
- Up Next for the Drive… The Drive will have tonight off as they return to Greenville to start a 6-game series with the Rome Emperors tomorrow night at Flour Field.
- Standings… To see the full standings for the SAL click here.
- Season Schedule… To see the Drives season schedule, click here… Once you are there you can go back to look at scores of past games and also see what lies ahead for the Drive.
NASCAR
- Reddick Wins in Two Overtimes Cup Series Race at Michigan… Monday in the rain delayed FireKeepers 400 at the Michigan International Speedway, Tyler Reddick picked up his second win of the season… They had to go run two overtimes to determine the winner with Reddick taking a slim .168 second win William Byron… For more information as to who was leading at the suspension of the race click here.
- Standings … With the win, Tyler Redick (814) moves up a notch to the top spot in the Cup Series Driver Standings while Case Elliot (804) moves up a spot to #2. Denny Hamlin (786) moves up to #3 and last week’s leader Kyle Larson (782) drops to 4th… Ryan Blaney (732) continues to hold down the #5 spot… Click here if you would like to see the entire driver standings and once at the NASCAR site you can also click on links to see the standings in Xfinity and Truck Series using tabs in the upper right corner of the posting.
- Schedule This Week… NASCAR is splitting up where they race this weekend… The Xfinity Series will race Friday night at 7:30 pm down in Daytona and the Cu Series Race will be in Daytona also on Saturday night at 7:30… The Truck series will be racing Sunday at 4:00 pm in Milwaukee… Click here to see the full schedule for Daytona and Milwaukee including practices and qualifying.
- NASCAR on TV this Week… NASCAR has several things being televised this week including race practices and qualifying, the race itself and assorted other things… To see the TV schedule for each day of the week click here.
This & That:
Laurens YMCA Soccer League… Registration is now open through August 21st for a Youth Soccer League at the Laurens Family YMCA which is being sponsored by Angela Marlett State Farm… The League will be for youth ages 3 – 12 in appropriate age groupings… The cost is $75 for Y members and $90 for non-members… For more information or answers to any questions you may have, contact Haley Queen at 864-984-2626 or email her at: hqueen@lakelandsymca.org.
Fall Baseball at City of Laurens Parks and Recreation… Registration is now open through August 23rd at the City of Laurens Parks and Recreation for Fall Baseball… There will be three age groupings: 5-7 coaches’ pitch, 7-9 kids’ pitch and 9-11 kids pitch… The cost for each registrant is $50… You can register can the City of Laurens Parks and Recreation offices at The Ridge on Exchange Drive in Laurens during their normal business hours… If you have any questions call them at 864-681-7275… Batter Up!
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.