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.
- 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
- Competitive Cheer Headed to the State Finals… The Raider Competitive Cher team competed in the Class AAAA Qualifier last Wednesday down at White Knoll HS and their score of 203 was the best score of the season…. That score earned them a 13th place finish and allowed them to move on to State Finals this Saturday at the Colonial Life Center in Columbia… Earlier this season the Raiders hosted a cheer competition and I was able to film their routine at that time… If you would like to see the video shot that day click here… Good Luck to the Raiders this Saturday!
- Raider Boys Cross Country 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.
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
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 11-17-24 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 still Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State and Indiana… Spots 6 – 10 are held by Notre Dame, Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss and Georgia… Spots 11 and 12 are occupied by Tennessee and Boise State… To see the list of the entire top 25 in the in the Playoff Rankings click here… Clemson is #17 on this list and South Carolina is #18… Not much chance of them getting into the top 12 unless a lot of teams above them fall apart.
- USA Today College Championship Bracket Projection… USA Today (Grenville News) has an interesting article about how the bracket for the National Championship would look if the above rankings hold true… It also outlines the problem that the SEC has with each of their teams knocking each other off and how that is affecting their spots in the playoffs… If you would like to read that article, click here.
- 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.