Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, December 16, 2017, 11:28 a.m.

A writer has to write, and, sometimes, be trite. When he accepts an assignment, it must be completed, even if the circumstances aren’t the best.

I had a rather sheepish project to complete on Friday night. Ware Shoals, a Class A school, hadn’t much of a chance in a doubleheader against Class 3A Clinton. The new girls’ basketball coach at Ware Shoals, Chris Johnston, spent 14 years coaching at Laurens Middle School. His father, Bob, won five state championships at Ware Shoals, where the gymnasium is now named after him. This was the subject of my assignment.

Chris Johnston is a pleasant man. Never have I been more grateful for a calm disposition.

The Fighting Hornets fell to the Red Devils, 43-8. It was 28-3 at halftime. Ware Shoals didn’t score in the first quarter. Three different Clinton players scored more than the entire Ware Shoals team.

We didn’t talk much about the game. There wasn’t much need.

In the past two nights, I’ve seen little of the human drama of athletic competition.

On Thursday night, the resurgent Presbyterian Blue Hose men hosted the Screaming Eagles of Toccoa Falls. The scream was something like “Aaaaaaiiiiieeee!” The Blue Hose (6-5) won their fifth straight game. Toccoa Falls, who have been cannon fodder for a range of teams, fell, 104-35.

Not that anyone suspected the outcome might be lopsided, but no admission was charged at Templeton Center, where the student body has completed its exams and migrated home for the holidays.

Following the girls’ game at Clinton, the Ware Shoals boys kept it close for a half before succumbing to Clinton, 95-57. At the end of the third quarter, with the outcome all but settled, I drove home to write the Chris Johnston feature and watch the NCAA FCS football semifinals between Sam Houston State and North Dakota State. I had few distractions while editing photos and writing about the new coach’s challenges in Ware Shoals. When I flipped the channel, the Bison (NDSU) were ahead, 55-13, and it was still the third quarter.

Mercifully, it was also the final score.

Bowl games begin today. Perhaps there is hope, somehow, for the human drama of athletic competition in the Celebration Bowl (North Carolina A&T-Grambling), New Orleans Bowl (Troy-North Texas), Cure Bowl (Western Kentucky-Georgia State), Las Vegas Bowl (Boise State-Oregon), New Mexico Bowl (Marshall-Georgia State) or Camellia Bowl (Middle Tennessee-Arkansas State).

But I doubt it.

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