By MONTE DUTTON

It wasn’t hot … yet. It wasn’t yet 8 a.m. when the varsity Red Devils joined the JVs out on the practice field Saturday morning.

By the time it ended, sweat was prevalent, even for guys walking around with cameras. They needed to wash their shirts, anyway.

Clinton’s Corey Fountain was almost as active as his players, setting a standard. Fountain even went in motion a few times, demonstrating a maneuver the Red Devils use a lot.

Once a local doctor told me that, based on hundreds of physicals he administered, he was amazed the coaches could get them all pointed in the right direction.

This early practice was about going in the right directions. Fountain and his coaches were teaching football as if it were algebra.

The Clinton coaches are adept at the assembly line. Last season an injury-plagued team made it to the Upstate Class 3A semifinals. The last three Red Devil editions have gone 35-6.

Now, in Class 2A, two of the better teams figure to be the same ones that decided Region 4-3A, Clinton and Chester, though they are now in separate regions in football and aligned in everything else.

It’s kind of a ridiculous scenario. In football, the Red Devils are in Region 1-2A. They are Region 3 in tennis, golf, track, wrestling, volleyball, basketball, soccer, competitive cheer, and undoubtedly something else, maybe, underwater bowling. It’s like the U.S. Olympic playing team handball for Puerto Rico.

But, as Walter Cronkite used to say at the end of the CBS Evening News, “That’s the way it is …”

Part of being a champion is believing one is.

What has jumped out about this program the last few years is that it seems ready for every stage.

That written, it is an awfully early stage. More can be seen when the pads go on, and they match up against other teams.

Now is just window dressing. It won’t be long until the doors open, and the fans peruse the merchandise.

So far, so good.

For many years, I’ve heard of the Phil Steele preseason football predictions and evaluations and wondered who he is.

When I found out that seven Presbyterian College players made the preseason Phil Steele all-conference team of the Pioneer Football League, at last I looked him up.

Steele is a sportswriter who specializes in college and pro ball. The publication in question is known as Phil Steele’s College Football Preview, and he has been publishing it annually since 1995.

Nowadays, Steele is an employee of ESPN.

Who isn’t? Or wasn’t?

PC is represented by three first-teamers (wide receiver Dominic Kibby, tight end Worth Warner and linebacker Alex Herriott), a trio of second-team members (offensive lineman Patch Bennett, defensive back Brooks Russ-Martin and kicker Mack Mikko), and one third-team representative (defensive lineman Carter Szydlowski).

The Kibby/Warner/Herriott triumvirate was the first group of three PC players to be named All-PFL first team last November, anchoring a Blue Hose crew that figures to return 17 of 22 starters from a group that penned a three-win improvement from ’22-’23.

Presbyterian will begin its 112^th season of football on Thursday, August 29 with a visit to Mercer (who offered up a 9-4 record last year). After visiting Erskine the following weekend, coach Englehart’s squad will make their first appearance at Bailey Memorial Stadium on September 14 to battle Virginia-Lynchburg.

It’s a rather large team. Reigning PFL champion Drake leads the way with 16 members, followed by San Diego 12, Davidson 11, Morehead State 11, Saint Thomas 9, PC 9, Butler 7, Dayton 7, Marist 7, Valparaiso 5 and Stetson 4.

Steele’s pick for offensive player of the year is Davidson running back Mari Adams (RB, Davidson). His defensive pick is Drake defensive end Finn Claypool.

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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