Sports Report for Friday, 10-18-2024

Local Notes

Clinton HS

Red Devils Travel to Landrum… The Red Devils get on the bus tonight and get on I26 to travel almost to North Carolina as they take on the Landrum Cardinals… The Cardinals come into the contest with a 5-1 record and are also 1-0 in the region having taken a 28-6 over Blacksburg at Blacksburg last Friday night… The Cardinals are averaging 38.3 points per game and giving up an average of 11 points per game… The Red Devils are 4-2 overall and 1-0 in region play having defeated Chesnee last Friday at Wilder Stadium… They are averaging 33.5 points per game while giving up 24.5… The Red Devils will have to keep the Landrum quarterback in check as he has 78 completions in 134 attempts for 11118 yards and has thrown 13 TD passes and 6 interceptions… They also have a potent running attack led by Aiden Kelly and Tye Foster who have 564 and 466 yards on the ground respectively and Kelly has 5 TDs to Foster’s 4… If you would like to see the Landrum schedule and results, click here… Good Luck to the Red Devils.
JV Football: Clinton 52 – Landrum 15… The Red Devil JV football team hosted the Landrum Cardinals last night and the only information I have is the final score… Good news for Red Devil fans as they rolled to a 52-14 win…. If I get more information later, I’ll pass it on to you.

Laurens HS

Raiders on the Road… The Raider football team travels up to the Piedmont area to take on the #8 in Class 4A ranked Wren Golden Hurricanes… Wren is 4-1 on the season and is coming off a 49-12 win over the Fountain Inn Furry at Fountain Inn last Friday night so they are 1-0 in the region… They are coached by Anthony Frate who was the defensive coordinator for the Raiders a few years ago when Coach Chris Liner was the head coach… They are averaging 40.4 points per game while giving up 12.4 points per game… Their only loss was to TL Hanna at home back in mid-September by a score of 36-29… Their quarterback Colten Bagwell has completed 42 of 60 pass attempts for 616 yards and has thrown 8 TDs and 5 interceptions… To see their schedule and scores, click here. We do plan on broadcasting this game on Real Radio WLBG and streaming live at ww.wlbg.com. Go Raiders!
JV Football: Wren 23 – Laurens 21… The Raider JV football team hosted the Wren Golden Hurricanes last night at KC Hanna Stadium and the Raiders took an early 7-3 lead but could not hold it as Wren came back to take a 23-21 win over the Raiders… It was a game that saw both team have troubles with penalties and turnovers… How it happened:
- Wren took the opening kickoff and drove down to the Raider 8 yard line but could get no closer and had to settle for a 15 yd. field goal with 8:11 left on the clock in the first quarter.
- The Raiders BJ Hill returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards to the Wren 36 yard line and 8 plays later Isai Fernandez carried in in from the 2 yard line and with Kevy Velasco’s extra point the Raiders led 7-3 with 4:10 left on the clock in the first quarter.
- Wren answered scoring on a long pass play with 2:04 left on the clock in the first quarter to make it 9-7 Wren.
- Both teams had troubles with turnovers as the Raiders fumbled twice before halftime and the Raiders AJ Mumford intercepted a pass on a fake punt by Wren .
- Wren scored again with 18.1 seconds left in the half on a short run that was set up by a Raider fumble… The score was 16-6 Wren at the half.
- The Raiders took the opening kickoff of the second half and went 51 yards scoring on a 46 yard pass from Buddy Cheeks to Caleb Gilchrist and with Velasco’s extra point the score was 16-14 Wren.
- The Raiders Jamorion Rice then recovered a Wren fumble only to have the Raider offense fumble the ball back to Wren 2 plays later… Again the Hurricanes fumbled the ball back to the Raiders 2 plays later but the Raiders could not cash in on that opportunity.
- The next score was a Wren TD with 1:49 left in the game and the PAT was good so Wren led 23-14 with 1:49 left in the game.
- The Raiders then used a trick play to score as Buddy Cheeks completed a pass to Kaleb Gilchrest who lateraled to Demajia Crooks who scored to make it 23-21 Wren with Velesco’s extra point being good.
- The Raiders then blocked a Wren punt to give then the ball at the Wren 20 yard line with 26.5 seconds left in the game but the Raiders just could not cover the distance in the time remaining so the final was 23-21 Wren I one whale of a game.

Fall Ticketing Information and Other Need to Know Venue Information… The Raiders have released information concerning tickets and other rules and regulations you need to know about before you go to any athletic events on campus this fall… This information also includes a parking map… Please check this out to save you some problems before you go… Click here to see that information.

Laurens Academy

Crusader Football at Home Tonight… The Laurens Academy Crusader football team is the only one of the three county high schools that will be playing at home tonight taking on the Newberry Eagles at Todd Kirk Field at 7:30 pm… The Crusaders defeated the Eagles 42-25 in Newberry earlier in the season that did NOT count as a region game while the one tonight does… The Eagles are 2-4 on the season overall and 0-3 in region play… They are averaging 22 points per game and giving up 36 while the Crusaders are averaging 39.7 points per game while giving up 29.9 points per game… Coach Jolly pointed out when I talked to him that the Crusader cannot afford to take them lightly… If you would like to see the Newberry schedule and scores, click here…. Go Crusaders!
Crusader Volleyball Starts Playoffs Today…The Crusader volleyball team finished the regular season with a 23-3 and will start play in the SCISA Class 2A Volleyball Tournament today down at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center… They have a first round bye and will take to the court at 4:15 this afternoon against the winner of the Lee Academy vs. Holy Trinity match… If you would like to see the bracket for the Class 2A portion of the tournament, click here…. Good Luck to the Crusaders!

Thornwell

Volleyball: Thornwell 3 – Ware Shoals 2… The Thornwell Saints volleyball team traveled to Ware Shoals yesterday to take on the Hornets in a region match that had implication as the whether or not the Saints make the playoffs… When the Saints got back home last night, they were able to “ring the bell” as they took a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Hornets… The Saints won the first two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-16… The third set was back and forth and tied at 20 all before the Hornets pulled away to take a 25-22 win… The Hornets won the fourth set 25-20 to tie the match at 2-2… Chloe Wilson started the service for the Saints in the fifth set and the Saints took an early 8-0 lead behind her and then rolled to a 15-9 win to take the match 3-2…. Thanks to Cindy Pitts for this information.
Up Next… The Saints will host Whitmire Monday at 5:30 and Calhoun Falls on Tuesday at 5:30 to close out the regular season… Wins in those matches will clinch them a playoff spot… Go Big Dogs!

Laurens County Touchdown Club

The Laurens County Touchdown Club will be met yesterday noon out at The Ridge on Exchange Drive… The latest TD Clubs Players of the week were honored and along with the local coaches, the featured speaker was Mike Ayers former Wofford coach and South Carolina Football Hall of Fame member…. Check back early next week for more information on this meeting including a link to a video of the meeting.

If you would like to see information about the Laurens County Touchdown Club such as how to join, meeting dates, sponsors and guest speakers click here.

Middle School Football… To see the middle school master school football schedule click here… Please remember these schedules can change right up to game day without my knowing about it.

Dixie 24 – GCO 6…This game was played on Wednesday at GCO… No other details available.
Whitmire 6 – Hickory Tavern 0… This was a scoreless game that had several turnovers until the Wolverines scored with about 5 minutes left in the game to take a 6-0 win,
Laurens MS 54 – Ware Shoals 6… The LMS Tigers traveled to Ware Shoals yesterday and the ride back was a happy one as the Tigers took a 54-6 win over the Hornets.

SC Prep Media Football Poll… Below is the latest S.C. Prep Football Media Poll released Tuesday. First-place votes and the team records are in parentheses.

CLASS 5A: 1. Dutch Fork (17) (6-0), 2. Northwestern (8-0), 3. Gaffney (1) (5-0), 4. Summerville (7-0), 5. Irmo (7-0), 6. Sumter (7-0), 7. JL Mann (4-1), 8. Boiling Springs (4-1), 9. Spartanburg (5-1) and 10. Hillcrest (4-1)… Dropped out: River Bluff… Others receiving votes: Greenwood, River Bluff, Ashley Ridge, and White Knoll.

CLASS 4A 1. Westside (19) (5-0), 2. Daniel (4-1), 3. South Pointe (5-2), 4. May River (6-0), 5. Seneca (6-0), 6. South Florence (5-2), 7. Hartsville (5-1-1), 1 8. Wren (4-1), 9. North Augusta (4-1) and 10. AC Flora (6-2)… Dropped out: Richland Northeast… Others receiving votes: Gray Collegiate, Richland Northeast, Fountain Inn
CLASS 3A: 1. Belton-Honea Path (12) (5-1), 2. Mountain View Prep (5) (6-0), 3. Marlboro County (1) (6-0), 4. Loris (6-1) 5. Woodruff (5-0), 6. Dillon (5-2), 7. Swansea (5-2), 8. Oceanside Collegiate (4-3), 9. Orangeburg-Wilkinson (5-1) and 10. Keenan (5-3)… Dropped out: Aynor… Others receiving votes: Newberry, Powdersville, St. Joseph’s, Aynor, Battery Creek
CLASS 2A: 1. Batesburg-Leesville (9) (6-0), 2. Saluda (7) (5-0), 3. Hampton County (1) (6-1), 4. Fairfield Central (6-1), 5. Clinton (4-2), 6. Barnwell (1) (6-1), 7. Strom Thurmond (4-1), 8. Manning (5-1), 9. Philip Simmons (5-2) and 10. Landrum (5-1)… Dropped out: Andrews, Chesterfield …Others receiving votes: Woodland, Timberland, Andrews, East Clarendon, Chesterfield
CLASS A: 1. Abbeville (17) (4-1), 2. Lewisville (1) (5-1,) 3. Blackville-Hilda (5-1), 4. Lake View (6-1), 5 Bamberg-Ehrhardt (4-2), 6. Lamar (5-2), 7. Cross (6-2), 8. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler (5-1), 9. Dixie (5-0) and 10. Branchville (6-1)… Dropped out: None …Others receiving votes: Latta, Hannah-Pamplico, Baptist Hill, Lee Central

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 6:20 pm with the Friday Night Insiders… Remember all sports broadcast are streamed live on the internet at www.wlbg.com.

Friday, October 18^th … Varsity football at Wren at 7:30.

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…. Also you can click here to see varsity volleyball results. .
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.

Area FBS Football Coach’s Salaries… The Greenville news recently had a couple of articles about FBS football coach’s salaries on their website… Thought you might be interested in seeing how much sawn Beamer and Dabo Swinney make… I’ll tell you here it’s not chicken feed!

SEC Coaches’ Salaries… The first article I saw is one that compares the salaries of the SEC coaches… Shane Beamer ranks 14 out of the 16 coaches in the SEC with a salary of almost $6.5 dollars. … Click here to see that article
Dabo Swinney’s Salary Among Top FBS Coaches… The other article was one that compared the salaries of top FBS coaches across the country… Clemson’s Dabo Swinney checked in at #2 in that article at $11.13 million… Kirby Smart of Georgia topped Dabo with a salary listed at $13.28 million… To see that article click here.

College Football

FBS AP Poll… The latest FBS AP Poll (10-13-24) had some changes in the top 10 this week… Texas is still #1 with Oregon moving up a spot to #2… Penn State is #3 followed by Ohio State and Georgia…. Spots 6-10 are occupied by Miami, Alabama, LSU, Iowa State and Clemson checks in at #10 (15)… To see the entire top 25 AP Poll click here
FCS Coaches Poll… The FCS Coaches Poll (10-14-24) continues to have South Dakota State and North Dakota State ranked #1 & #2… In our general area, Mercer moved is the only team you often see on the schedule of some our local teams in the top 25… To see the entire FCS Coaches Poll click here.
FBS Football Scores… If you would like to see the scores for FBS schools this past week click here… Once you get there you can filter and sort several different ways and you can also click on the next week to see the FBS schedule.
FCS Football Scores… If you would like to see the scores for FBS schools this past week click here… Once you get there you can filter and sort several different ways and you can also click on the next week to see the FBS schedule.

Pro Sports: For more information on the game(s) below, click on the scores at the start of the section.

Major League Baseball

Postseason Schedule… If you would like to see the entre playoff schedule and scores of the completed games to date all the way to the World Series click here… If you would rather see the post season schedule by matchups, click here… If you look at both of those and you are still confused or have questions about the playoff format, click here where they try to explain it and thus answer your questions.

Other Scores… If you would like to see the scores of other MLB games click here.
Standings… To see the MLB Standings click here.

NFL

Schedules and Scores… For you diehard pro football fans out there if you want to check scores or schedules in the NFL click here… Once you go to this posting on the NFL site you can filter by the week you are interested in.
Standings… If you are also curious about the NFL standings, click here,

NASCAR

Kyle Larson Wins at Charlotte… Kyle Larson took a one-sided win racing on the “Roval” this past Sunday up in Charlotte inn the Cup Series Race… He finished almost 2 seconds ahead of second place finisher Christopher Bell… For more information about this race, click here.
Playoffs… At the end of the race, the field of drivers competing for the Cup Series Championship was reduced from 12 to 8… To see who those 8 drivers are, click here.
Schedule This Week… The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series will be head out to Los Vegas this weekend with the Xfinity race taking place on Saturday at 7:00 pm and the Cup Series race on Sunday at 2:30 pm…To see the complete schedule for Los Vegas including practices and TV availability, click here.
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:

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.