By MONTE DUTTON
When a player is named Laurens County Touchdown Club Player of the Week, it means he had a great game. When that player wins it three times in one season, he’s had a great season.
Such is the case with Clinton High School’s Kadon Crawford, who led the Red Devils past Palmetto, 42-18, in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs last Friday night.
In other words, it wasn’t too different from every other week for the senior who will represent Clinton in the Touchdown Energy Bowl, a.k.a., the North-South Game, in Myrtle Beach next month.
The senior, who plays linebacker, wide receiver and tight end on occasion, not to mention special teams, made six tackles, one for loss and forced a fumble. He scored three touchdowns, one rushing and two receiving. He had 85 yards of all-purpose running.
Clinton (9-2) takes on Broome (9-2) at Wilder Stadium on Friday night.
Clinton head coach Corey Fountain stated, “Kadon Crawford is a hard-working, blue-collar kid who gives you everything he has when he is playing, on both sides of the ball. Kadon is a vocal leader, as well, and he leads by example.There is not a kid on the team [who] is more competitive than Kadon Crawford.”
The next TD Club meeting is Thursday, Nov, 16, at The Ridge in Laurens.
The meeting features the South Carolina-Clemson preview with former USC and NFL player Patrick DiMarco speaking for the Gamecocks and former Clemson player and now assistant coach of the Tigers, Danny Pearman.
The club meets every other Thursday, and the public is invited. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15. All meetings are at noon with the food-service line opening at 11:45 a.m.
Recruiting is not my favorite topic. Part of it is because it’s a shoddy form of journalism. Alleged reporters run little more than gossip. Many young athletes who sign on the dotted lines never wind up competing where they allegedly commit.
That having been said, it’s encouraging that Presbyterian College is recruiting Crawford.
No, PC does not offer football scholarships, but neither do the service academies, where every cadet is on a full ride, nor the Ivy League schools, which technically do not offer athletics scholarships in any sports. They all give special consideration to athletes by putting together aid packages to compensate for the absence of athletics grants.
The Blue Hose drew 675 for their football game last Saturday, and it was pretty accurate because I counted the crowd from the sideline.
Having a local kid, particularly one like Crawford, would do PC a world of good.
When I wrote about NASCAR, if it rained a certain amount, officials said they’d “lost the track.”
Presbyterian College has lost the town, and I hate that.
PC signed four women’s soccer recruits on Wednesday. Interim coach Tanner Osborne signed Evyn Johnson, Harlan Lyons, Cassidy Oldham and Allie Williams. Johnson is from Clinton. That’s Clinton, N.C.
Comparative scores are only mildly more reliable ways to determine playoff favorites than standard recruiting comparisons.
For what it’s worth – not much – Clinton and Broome have three common opponents: Union County, Woodruff and Chapman. Both defeated the first two and lost to the last.
The Centurions defeated the Yellow Jackets 62-34 and the Wolverines 55-14. The Panthers defeated the Centurions 38-35.
The Red Devils defeated the Yellow Jackets 51-28 and the Wolverines 36-20. The Panthers defeated the Red Devils 22-21.
Clinton’s boys’ cross country team finished third in the state qualifier, thus earning a berth in the state meet on Friday in Newberry.
Travelers Rest scored 52 points, Waccamaw 72 and Clinton 85.
For the Red Devils, William Reid finished third (16:40), Sam Gearhart 10th (17:34), Hayden Stinson 18th (18:03) and Gage Dominic 19th (18:06).
Laurens qualified Cody Patterson (18th, 17:20) and Hunter Power (19th, 17:22) for the 4A meet, also at Newberry.
The end of football season gives Laurens, Laurens Academy and Thornwell Charter a bit of a head start on basketball.
The Laurens boys open in a Thanksgiving tournament versus Dorman on Monday, Nov. 20. The girls take on Greer Middle College in a Woodruff tournament on Saturday, Nov, 18,
The Laurens Academy boys begin on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at home against Greenwood Christian. The girls visit Wardlaw (along with the boys) on Dec. 5.
Thornwell has a Nov. 28 boys’ home game against an opponent yet to be named. The girls visit Ninety Six on Dec. 18.
Clinton visits Mid-Carolina on Nov. 28 in boys’ play. The girls host a tournament on Nov. 20-21, opening against York.
Clinton and Laurens both won their region titles in junior-varsity football.
The Red Devils were undefeated and ran their JV winning streak to 45 straight, dating back to the 2019 season.
The Raiders closed fast with a 3-1 Region 2-4A record, though just 4-5 overall.
Reckon I can find 20 people who like this independent site enough to chip in $20 to keep it going?
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Nightrider's Lament 