Local Notes
Broadcasting Note… If everything goes as planned, we do plan on brining you the SCISA 8-Man Championship football game this Friday where the Laurens Academy Crusaders will be taking on their region foe the Richard Winn Eagles… We will start out coverage of the 7:30 pm game from Batesburg at 7:00 pm… We hope you can follow the Crusaders down but if not, you can listen live here on Real Radio WLBG and streaming live on the internet at www.wlbg .com… Go Crusaders!
Clinton HS
- Red Devil Cross Country Teams Qualify for state Championship Meets… This past Saturday down at Fort Jackson in Columbia, both the Red Devil cross country teams qualified for the Class AA State Championship Meet which will be held in Newberry… Look below for more information on how each team… Congratulations and good luck to both teams or as they say at CHS, Go Big Red!
- Girls Finish Fourth… The Red Devil girls’ cross country team finished fourth in the qualifier at Fort Jacks on last Saturday… They were led by Elizabeth Reid who finished the course in 12:03. 33 which placed her sixth overall… If you would like to see how the other Red Devils finished and some comment from Coach Lee Atkinson click here… There is a photo there and some of the other Clinton runners turned in their best time of the season so check it out.
- Boys Finish Second… The Red Devil boys’ cross country team did even better finishing second in the boys portion of the meet… William Reid finished in 4th place overall with a time of 16:43.72 and right behind him Sam Gearheart finished 5th with a time of 16:53.71… If you would like to see how the other Red Devil runners finished click here… Just like in the girls’ link, some of the runners finished with season best times and there is also a picture where the link leads you as well as comments from Coach Atkinson there.
- Clinton 56 – Pelion 0… The Clinton Red Devils started their participation in the SCHSL Class AA Playoffs last Friday night hosting the Pelion Panthers… The Panthers turned out to be no more than a docile pet cats as the Red Devils score ever time thy had the ball and took a 56-0 win… The Red Devils rolled up 473 yards of total offense to the Panthers 127… Once again this week the Red Devils were able to score quickly several times so they had the ball just over 16 minutes to the Panthers almost 32… The Red Devils led 42-0 at the half so that meant there was a running clock in the second half and several non-starters and JV players who got called up saw action.
- Rushing… The Red Devils finished the game with363 yards rushing to the Panthers 91 yards… KJ Vance was the leading rusher for the Red Devils as he finished with 98 yards on 3 rushes one of which was a 76 yard TD run and he also scored on an 18 yard run… DJ Clark finished with 60 yards and 2 TDs while Javen Cook also scored 2 rushing TDs.
- Passing… Tushawan Richards went 4-7 for 110 yards with no interceptions in the passing department… He threw one 72 yard TD pass to Devin Swindler just before the first half ended.
- Special Teams & Defense… Special teams also had a big part in the game as Chris Boyd had a 41 yard punt return for a score… Bryson Perrin intercepted a Panther pass to kill one of their drives.
- Stat Package… If you would like to see the complete stat package for the game which includes a play-by-play accounting of the game click here.
- Up Next… The Red Devils will be hosting an old familiar opponent this Friday night as the Chester Cyclones come to town for a second round game in the Class AA Playoffs.
- AA Bracket… If you would like to see the entire Class AA Playoff Bracket click here…. One last ting… Go Big Red!
- Ticket Information for Friday’s Football Game… As most of you already know the Red Devil football team will be hosting the Chester Cyclones this Friday Night at 7:30 pm in second round of the Class AA Playoffs… Ticket price for this game will be $10 and that price is set by the SCHSL… Tickets can be purchased at the game, but you can also purchase them ahead of time by clicking here… Another reminder is that only SCHSL passes will be accepted at the gate an no locally issued passes will be accepted… Everyone entering must have a ticket… All of this is per SCHSL rules and regulations… Gates will open at 6:30 pm… Go Big Red.
Laurens HS
- Raider Boys Headed to State Meet… The Raider boys’ crops country team also qualified for the State Meet to be held at Newberry this Friday… The Raiders finished 8th among the teams they were competing against… Cody Patterson led the Raiders finishing 17th in a time of 16:54.03… Hayden Wham finished 27th with a time of 17:16.89, Hunter Power 40th with a time of 17:51.71, Ethan Patterson 52nd with a time of 18:34.38, Hunter Hawkins 53rd with a time of 18:39.84 and finally Nolan Bunner 81st with a time of 20:50.64… Congratulations and Good Luck to the Raiders this Friday.
- Raider Football at 54… They have now been playing football at Laurens District 55 High School for 54 years… For you old timers out there as well as the relatively newcomers have you ever wondered how many games the Raiders have won in those 54 years? Who have been the head coaches and their records at LDHS? When were they region champs? State Champs? Well if you want to know the answer to those questions and others, Doug Holiday has been compiling such information and has sent me a document with all sorts of information about Raider football history… If you would like to see that document, click here… Thanks to Doug for this information.
- 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.
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Laurens Academy
- Bell Chosen TD Club Player of the Week… Monday it was announced that the Crusaders linebacker and tight end Nathan Bell has been chosen the Laurens County Touchdown Club’s Player of the Week for his performance in the Crusaders 34-28 overtime win over the Jefferson Davis Raiders down in Blackville ;last Friday night… The win propelled the Crusaders into the SCISA 8-Man Championship game this Friday at WW King… Nathan led the Crusaders on defense with 18 total tackles, one sack, 4.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery… He also played every snap on the offensive line that gained over 350 yards from scrimmage… Head Coach Jolly Doolittle stated, “Nathan is a tireless worker and a relentless competitor… He has played nearly every snap of every game… He is a team-first guy and a true throwback player… The tougher it gets the better he is!”… He will be honored at the club’s next meeting which is this Thursday at noon out at The Ridge
- Crusaders 34 – Jeff Davis 28 in OT… The Laurens Academy Crusaders traveled down to Blackville last Friday night to take on the Jefferson Davis Raiders in a semi-final game of the SCISA 8-Man football playoffs… It was a close game but in the end the Crusaders took a 34-28 win over the Raiders in overtime.
- First Quarter… The Crusaders took an early 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter as Garett Murphy scored twice in the first quarter… The 2-point conversion failed after the first TD but I believe Ethan Collins connected with Caleb Hardy after the second TD to make it 14-0 with 1:16 left in the first quarter.
- Second Quarter… The Raiders picked up their first score with 11:16 left in the second quarter and converted on the 2-point attempt to make it 14-8 Crusaders… The Raiders scored again with 7:38 left in the half but failed to make the 2-pont conversion so the score was tied 14-14… I believe it was on the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff that Ethan Collins connected with Murphy on a 65 yard TD pass… The Crusaders did make the 2-point conversion to make the score 28-22 Crusaders… Jeff Davis responded by scoring one more time before the half and picking up a 2-point conversion which tied the score 22-22 and that was the score at the half.
- Third Quarter… The only score in the third quarter was by the Raiders as they scored on a rushing TD with about 7 minutes left in the quarter but failed on the 2-opoint conversion so they led 28-22 going into the final quarter.
- Fourth Quarter… Both teams’ defense tightened in the fourth quarter but the Crusaders were able to carry the ball into the endzone with about 2 minutes left in the game but failed on the 2-point conversion so the game was tied 28-28… I believe that Murphy once again scored but not 100% sure.
- Overtime… The Raiders had the ball first and the Crusaders were able to hold them out of the endzone as they had a fourth and goal from the 3 but the Crusaders defense held to give the Crusaders a chance to score… It did not take long for the Crusaders to score as on the first play from scrimmage Garrett Murphy carried the ball in from the 10 yard line and the celebration was on.
- Up Next… The Crusaders will be back in action this Friday night as the travel to WW King in Batesburg to take on the region foe Richard Winn for the SCISA 8-Man Football Championship… More on this game as the week goes on.
Laurens County Touchdown Club
- 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.… The Club’s next meeting is this Thursday, Nov. 21st where it will be the annual South Carolina and Clemson University Touchdown Club meeting celebration with Chet Tucker-USC chief sideline reporter and Don Munson-voice of the Clemson Tigers, as our featured speakers. .
Sports Talk Media High School Football Recap… Each week during the football season Sports Talk Media produce a recap show of high school football results from around the state… If you would like to hear that show for last Friday night, click here… It’s usually about 5 minutes long and keeps you updated on football outside our area… Enjoy!
2024 SCHSL Football Brackets… I now have all the SCHSL football brackets for all classifications available… Look over in the Featured Sports Section for a posting with them or simply click here… Enjoy!
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.
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.
College Football
- College Football Playoff Rankings….The latest College Football Rankings came out on 11-9-24 and these are the rankings that will be used to seed the 12 teams that make the FBS Playoffs at the end of the year… They follow the AP Poll closely but not exactly… The first 5 teams in order are Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State and Indiana… Spots 6 – 10 are held by BYU Tennessee, Notre Dame, Miami and Alabama…. Spots 11 and 12 are occupied by Ole Miss and Georgia… To see the list of the entire top 25 in the in the Playoff Rankings click here… Clemson is #20 on this list and south Carolina is #21… Not much chance of them getting into the top 12 unless a lot of teams above them fall apart.
- FBS AP Poll… The latest FBS AP Poll (11-17-24) did not have any changes in the top 5 this week… In order they are Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State and Indiana… Spots 6-10 are occupied by Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee… Clemson still checks in at #17 while South Carolina went from #23 to #19 this week … To see the entire top 25 AP Poll click here
- FCS Coaches Poll… The FCS Coaches Poll (11-17-24) still has North Dakota State #1 and Montana State at #2 … In our general area, teams you often see on the schedule of some our local teams in the top 25 are Mercer at #9, SC State tied at #17 with Harvard…To see the entire FCS Coaches Poll click here.
- HBCU Rankings… The latest rankings for HBCU teams came out on 11-4-24… South Carolina State still checks in at #2 there behind Jackson State… To see the top 21 in this ranking click here and be sure to scroll down or you miss information about each of the schools.
- 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.
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,
This & That:
- Youth Basketball at The Ridge… Registration for youth basketball through the City of Laurens Parks and Recreation is now open… The cost is $60 and you register at the City of Laurens Parks and Recreation headquarters at The Ridge located at 301 exchange Drive…The age groupings include 7-8 year old coed, 9-12 girls, 9-10 boys and 11-12 boys… The deadline to enter is Friday, Nov. 22nd and there will be a skill evaluation on November 25th with practices staring Dec. 2nd… If you have any questions about the league, please email JPridgen@cityoflaurenssc.com or call 864-939-9137.
- 25th Anniversary Reindeer Run, Sat. Dec. 14… On Saturday December 14th, the Laurens Family YMCA will be holding its annual 5K Reiner Run and 1 Mile Fun Run… This is an annual event that helps to raise money for the YMCA’s Youth Scholarship Program… The 5K race will have 9 age groupings and prizes will be awarded for various finishers… For more information about this race and walk click here… There is a $5 discount if you register before Nov. 22nd … To register for the 5K race online, Click here … to register for the 1-Mile Fun Run, you must do that at the YMCA.. No online registration for the Fun Run.
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.