By MONTE DUTTON

The only way the weekend could have been better was for me … to be … in Cullowhee.

I am mindful of my custom experience being dissimilar to many South Carolinians. While I was preoccupied with writing about Paladins and Blue Hose Saturday night, Miami was shocking Clemson, not to mention me. Missouri defeated South Carolina, but I wasn’t surprised.

This is not a roundup. It’s not a rundown. I’m not reporting. I’m just unashamedly depicting Friday and Saturday from my perspective and hoping other perspectives will find humor in it.

The games I cared about the most were glorious, and allowing for different levels, remarkably similar. Clinton’s defense bent but seldom broke in a 14-6 victory over Chester, which had previously been averaging 36 points a game. The heretofore seventh-ranked Cyclones got their yards but not their points, Their defense returned the favor, but the Red Devils made the big plays.

Gee whiz, I used two weary cliches – “bent but seldom broke” and ‘returned the favor’ – in a single paragraph. Quite possibly, a new low.

Furman’s 29-17 victory on the road at Western Carolina was elongated by time on the clock, it being played by collegians. In the national FCS rankings, the Paladins were 3 and 4, and the Catamounts, with an offense that was averaging 538 yards a game, were 14 and 8.

No Class 3A game in the state was bigger than Chester-Clinton, and no FCS game in the nation was bigger than Furman-Western Carolina.

Plus … the good guys won. The Red Devils cut the Cyclones off at the path. The Paladins’ defense was great across the board, and resourceful QB Tyler Huff and burly runner Dom Roberto confounded the Catamounts at every turn.

I drove over to Presbyterian College on Saturday after being up to 6 a.m. capturing Clinton’s win, Laurens’ loss and assorted other local chips and dips. I rarely go straight from the bed to the shower, but I didn’t know if I could make it to the coffee machine, so I opted for the other reliable pick-me-up.

Cliches still clicking right off.

Arriving at Bailey Memorial Stadium, I was playing it by ear. I knew I was going to take photos in the first half. After shooting a game the night before, sunshine is damn near addictive to a guy with a camera. Homecoming. Crowd twice as big as usual. The cultural exchange of Clinnon and Poughkeepsie on the Hudson.

Had I not enjoyed the atmosphere so much, I might have hightailed it back home to watch the game in Cullowhee, but I thought PC might win. Furman-Western didn’t start until halftime at PC, so I retreated to the press box, watched the stats and plays from Cullowhee on the laptop … and wound up being deeply saddened by the Blue Hose’ self-inflicted loss, especially after talking to Steve Englehart and Alex Herriott about it.

I watched a bummer but got home in time to watch Huff put the Cats away with a 53-yard touchdown dash, and the Paladins’ other No. 6, Hugh Ryan, read the final rites with an interception.

In two weeks, it will be about the same. PC plays at home against San Diego at 1, and Furman starts in Chattanooga at 1:30.

At the risk of jeopardizing my reputation as a stodgy traditionalist, I loved Furman’s uniforms. They wore the purple helmets, not the white, and the white jerseys were almost identical to the ones worn by Art Baker’s teams in the 1970s. The only difference, I think, was that the old jerseys had “FURMAN” above the front numbers and these had “PALADINS” there.

I still have great fondness for all-white on the road and purple jerseys with white helmets and pants at home. Western looked spiffy, too. It was a purple festival that the better team and uniform won.

Broadcasters and journalists hate uniforms when the numbers are hard to see. The University of Washington wore purple jerseys with chrome-gold numbers against Arizona State.

After being up till 6 a.m. the night (morning?) before, no way I was going to bed early. An appropriate transition was 2 a.m. By Friday, I’ll be all the way back to midnight.

Support the advertisers, and help keep the site – the game stories, the blogs, the photos – alive by making a donation to DHK Sports, P.O. Box 768, Clinton, S.C. 29325 or making a small monthly donation via Patreon. The Laurens County site is here. The Furman site is here.

Another way I can derive some revenue is if you purchase my books at MonteDutton.net. They’re quite entertaining in spite of the fellow who wrote them. Two of my novels, Cowboys Come Home and Lightning in a Bottle, are available in audio versions. The latest, The Latter Days, is about baseball.

Photo galleries are posted on Instagram @furmanatt and @laurenscountysports.

The next Fiesta Grande open mic is Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 8 p.m.