By MONTE DUTTON

One gathering I miss when football ends is going every other Thursday to the Laurens County Touchdown Club.

I almost always get there early. I get to almost everything early except bed. I like to mingle and interact. I’m the same way at ballgames. I chat with the referees, the chain crew, ball boys, doctors, broadcasters, band director and members, cheerleaders, trainers and fans standing behind the end-zone fences.

Seldom do they mention how stupid I am. Some don’t know.

At each meeting, local coaches discuss their teams’ status, but the first meeting is a showcase for the high schools. Laurens hosts Hillcrest, Woodruff visits Clinton and Laurens Academy takes an excursion to Newberry Academy on the night after the noon meeting at The Ridge.

I don’t know how a breath is baited, but I learned how to bait a hook at an early age.

All the practice, weightlifting and games of catch, and all the band and cheerleader rehearsals, lead up to the heart of Friday-night lights.

The boys wear their jerseys as garments of honor, which they are.

Dempsey’s Pizza, Clinton’s leading tourist attraction, is catering the first shindig. It costs $15 to get in. What a bargain.

Jolly Doolittle of Laurens Academy, Corey Fountain of Clinton High and Greg Porter of Laurens are poised to thump their teams’ tubs. The season forecast is optimistic with a slight chance of showers.

The Ridge is at 301 Exchange Road in Laurens. The first meeting starts at high noon, but all the fans in the audience put their differences aside. Friday night offers numerous opportunities to yell such profundities as “Get ‘im!” and “Knock ‘im down!”, clap time to the fight songs and yell “Dee-fense!” when cheerleaders say so.

I don’t know why everybody doesn’t go. Then again, it would be quite a surprise for Dempsey’s Pizza.

Never has Presbyterian College been ranked as high as third place in the Big South preseason volleyball poll … until now.

The Blue Hose return 10 letter winners while welcoming seven new faces.

Second-year head coach Steve Benson stated, “Our ranking reflects the work we did last year, but we have to prove ourselves this year every time we step onto the court.”

Prior to the 2020-21 spring season, Presbyterian was picked fourth in the conference, the team’s highest preseason ranking until now.
Last season, the Blue Hose were picked seventh and ended up finishing fourth. 

BIG SOUTH PRESEASON POLL
1.         High Point (7)
2.         Winthrop (1)
3.        Presbyterian
4.         USC Upstate
5.         Radford
6.         Charleston Southern
7.         Gardner-Webb
8.         UNC Asheville

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Dylan Maberry, High Point, OH (Preseason Player of the Year)
Eve Wilson, High Point, MB
Avery Jolley, Winthrop, OH
Allie Gray, High Point, S (Preseason Setter of the Year)
Ady O’Grady, USC Upstate, MB
Jordyn Schilling, High Point, LIB (Preseason Libero of the Year)
Isabella Murray, Winthrop, S

Lauren Chong is from Toronto, Ont., played lacrosse at Limestone, coached at Lander and now joins Eric Clakeley’s program at Presbyterian as an assistant.111

“We could not be more excited to have Lauren join our program”, stated Clakeley, who just completed his fifth season at PC. “She brings a wealth of experience to the role and will have a massive impact from day one.

“Lauren’s primary responsibilities will be coordinating the offense and specialty units. We are ready for a refresh on that side of the ball, and throughout the search process, it was clear that she was the individual to lead that initiative.”

Big South coaches picked PC last in both men’s and women’s cross country.

Seven-time defending Big South women’s cross country champion High Point University  and four-time defending men’s champion Charleston Southern University were ranked at the top.

In the women’s voting, the Panthers received eight of the nine first-place votes and 79 points to claim the top spot for the seventh consecutive season. Charleston Southern received the remaining first-place vote and 69 points for second.

In the men’s polling, the Buccaneers claimed the top spot in this year’s poll with eight first-place votes and 80 points.  UNC Asheville, last year’s runner-up, finished second in the preseason ranking with 68 points and collected the remaining first-place vote.

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

As Merle Haggard sang, “If we can make it through December, everything’s gonna be all right, I know.”

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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Thanks for putting up with me.