By MONTE DUTTON

Practice makes perfect.

Doesn’t it?

It’s not without its hazards. Injuries happen. An ancient television show known as Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In used to hand out the “Fickle Finger of Fate.”

My view is that luck intervenes only in the short term. It all evens out.

I had a coach who didn’t believe in luck in any form and would’ve debated Daniel Webster, if challenged. If a player picked up a fumble and ran it in from 80 yards, he made a play. If he fumbled himself, he messed up. End of story.

No such thing as luck. I wasn’t stenciled on the locker-room wall, but it could’ve been.

I remember more incidents on the practice field than in games, which may be a testimony to my relative lack of virtuosity.

One of the more indelible recollections is my last practice in the stadium, the day before the bus trip to Myrtle Beach. When it ended, the sun was low in the sky, its rays splashing beyond the lengthening shadows.

I knew it was the last time. Was that only yesterday, or nearly 49 years ago?

A pair of arrivals from Region 4-3A head up the Class 2A preseason football rankings released by the S.C. High School Sports Group.

Clinton and Chester are not now in the same region for football, but they are both in Region 3-2A for every other sport. The Red Devils, ranked No. 1, are in Region 1-2A this fall.

Fifteenth-ranked Landrum is paired with Clinton in 1-2A along with Blacksburg, Chesnee and Liberty.

The rankings: (1.) Clinton, (2.) Chester, (3.) Strom Thurmond, (4.) Saluda, (5.) Barnwelll, (6.) Hampton County, (7.) Phillip Simmons, (8.) Manning, (9.) Ninety Six, (10.) Andrew Jackson, (11.) Marion, (12.) Cheraw, (13.) Whale Branch, (14.) Batesburg-Leesville, (15.) Landrum.

Abbeville, duh, is tops in Class A, where its arrival strikes fear in hearts.

Dillon is atop 3A, where familiar names Belton-Honea Path (second), Chapman (fifth), Broome (seventh) and Powdersville (14^th) reside.

In Class 4A, Westside is at the top, followed notably by Daniel (third), A.C. Flora (fourth), Greer (13^th), Wren (14^th) and Seneca (15^th).

Gaffney is first and Spartanburg third in 5A. Hanna is eighth, Byrnes ninth, Greenville 15^th, Greenwood 17^th and J.L. Mann 20^th. Only the largest class, where there are two divisions of play, ranks 20 instead of 15.

Preseason begins for the Presbyterian College football team as the sun rises Wednesday, with the first practice from 8:30-10:30 a.m.

Head coach Steve Englehart, entering his third year in charge and with a defense that returns all 11 starters, has scheduled 21 preseason practices leading up to the first clash of the campaign at Mercer on Thursday, Aug. 29.

PC will be clad with helmets but no pads on Wednesday. The first session accompanied with full gear is Tuesday, Aug. 6 (also at 8:30).

Presbyterian will hold its first scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 10 in Bailey Memorial Stadium at 6:30 p.m. They’ll return on Thursday, Aug. 22, a week out from the season’s first contest.

Presbyterian College announced its promotional schedule for football home games, six of which are in the offing this fall.

Sept. 14, Virginia of Lynchburg, 1 p.m., Letter Winners/Scotsman Club Day

Sept. 21, Gardner-Webb, 7 p.m. Youth Sports Night/Hometown Heroes

Sept. 28, Davidson, 7 p.m., Carolina Border Clash/864 Community Day

Oct. 19, Drake, 1 p.m., Homecoming/Salute to Service 

Nov. 2, Dayton, 1 p.m., Decades Day/Faith Day & FCA

Nov. 23, Butler, 1 p.m., Senior Day/Cancer Awareness

Fort Mill Post 43 dashed Chapin-Newberry 193/24’s Senior American Legion baseball hopes with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday afternoon in Fort Mill.

A four-run fourth inning made all the difference after Chapin-Newberry (15-11) tied the game, 2-2, on Matthew Rollison’s base hit.

Ten batters reached the plate for Fort Mill, which also won 6-1 in a regular-season game at Newberry, in the bottom half off three C-N pitchers, starter and loser Tripp Bollibon, Carson Glenn of Clinton and Jacob Clark.

Rollison had two of the four hits allowed by winning pitcher Jackson Mullen, who walked three and fanned two.

Owen Noonan and Nico Bartolotti each had two hits for the victors.

As football season approaches, I expect to streamline the site name. Since the coverage – Furman and Laurens County – is difficult to convey in a word, I may stick with Wellpilgrim (com, net, et al.). Or, if anyone thinks of anything snazzy, I’ll take it under advisement.

A shorter name makes it more likely that readers go directly to the site without linking through social media (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Advertising alone will not keep me going, but there’s room for a few more. Every ad is inset in every story.

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