By MONTE DUTTON

Cambridge Academy, Greenwood (Monte Dutton photo)

I wrote about my first football game on Friday night. It was an eight-man fray played on a quaint field with a shade tree on the home side, two sets of stairs and no grandstand.

The score was 56-20. Eight-man football is soccer in its wide-open spaces and basketball in its scoring.

I started the campaign with something different. I had a grand time. Soon it will be grind time.

The winning coach won for the 100^th time. The kids doused him in ice water, which surprised me. I moved just in time to be splashed and not drenched. For Coach Jolly Doolittle, it was jolly. My different perspective would not have been.

Ah. No harm, no foul.

Next week both Laurens County public high schools have big home games. As I cannot be at both, I’m trading photos with a colleague, going to one and fashioning a story on the other from the stats package.

Then, the next week, Presbyterian College plays on Thursday night in Macon, Ga., the Paladins on Saturday night in Oxford, Miss., with the county’s biggest football game, Laurens at Clinton, in between.

The season will be fully operational. Having no other discernible life, I’m happy about the impending activity. Summers are a drag until football games and hurricanes increase.

Ask myself, why do I do it? / Guess there must be something to it / Getting paid for doing what I’d be doing anyway – George Hawke

In theory, anyway.

Furman softball standout Riley Ludlam has been added to the Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball Championship roster, it was announced this week.

The Fort Myers, Fla., native played four seasons for the Paladins and graduated from Furman in 2023 before transferring to Oklahoma as a graduate student this past season. Ludlam will wear No. 16 in the AU Pro Softball Championship.

During her four seasons at Furman, Ludlam started all 169 games and finished with a .309 batting average. She stands second on the Paladins’ all-time list with 25 home runs and ranks fifth with 117 runs batted in. Her 45 career doubles hold fourth place.

Ludlam, a three-time All-Southern Conference selection, was honored as the 2023 SoCon Player of the Year, becoming the fifth player in Furman history to win the league’s top award. She ranked third in the conference by compiling a .372 batting average with 55 hits, including 15 doubles and 10 home runs, while contributing 41 RBIs. 

In her lone season at Oklahoma, Ludlam appeared in 49 games with 21 starts while helping the Sooners claim their fourth consecutive NCAA Division I title. She belted three home runs and drove in 20 runs, including a season-high three RBI against Tarleton State on March 12.

Freshmen provided the goals as Furman blanked Lees-McRae in a men’s soccer exhibition on Saturday.

Trip Campbell and Wesley Siegel found the backs of the net to propel Furman to a 2-0 victory.

Wilfer Bustamante curled a low cross behind the defense from the right wing to Campbell, who tapped in the pass near the top of the six-yard box for the former goal.

After a lightning delay of almost an hour, Siegel’s strike in the 86^th minute ended the scoring.

Sophomore Aaron Salinas went the distance in goal and stopped one shot. Furman managed a 16-4 edge in shot attempts and 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.

The Paladins kick off the regular season on Thursday when they host UNC Wilmington at 8 p.m. at Stone Soccer Stadium.

Furman women’s soccer is in Columbia on Sunday to play No. 21 South Carolina. The Gamecocks also have a Stone Stadium. Kickoff is at 7.

Sunday’s match marks the season opener for the Gamecocks, who won, 2-0, over the Paladins last season.

 Furman opens its home schedule on Thursday versus Presbyterian at 6.

I just got my first direct contribution in a while, and the ads are almost paid up.

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

You can support my site in several ways.

Support the advertisers. They are all fine people who my efforts, not to mention those of the kids, coaches, parents and fans.

Please donate whatever you consider appropriate via Venmo at DHK Sports. You may also reach me by mail at 11185 Highway 56 North, Clinton  29325.

If you choose, make a monthly donation via Patreon. The Laurens County site is here. The Furman site is here.

In the off chance you’d like to read my novels and other books, they’re available on Amazon and many prominent bookseller sites. You can read them on your phones and other devices for a modest cost. I make a bit more if you purchase the actual books, but what I mainly want is for folks to read them.

Sample my latest novel, The Latter Days. Download it for $2.99 here.

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

Thanks for putting up with me.