By MONTE DUTTON

Presbyterian at Mercer is Thursday night. Laurens at Clinton is on Friday night. Furman at Mississippi is on Saturday night.

Someone asked me what I was doing. What do you think?

The stories on PC and Furman won’t have my name on them because I won’t be there. I’ll be at my customized mission control, watching on TV and perusing the online progress play by play.

I’ll monitor the radio from Oxford, Miss. PC isn’t on radio, but the game is on The CW, Channel 62.

A fan who expects the Blue Hose or Paladins to win has more faith than Hill’s greatest hits.

What I hope for is poise and composure. While such sterling virtues won’t easily defeat the talent of the nation’s sixth-ranked team or an FCS school with a playoff win last year, it might slow the bleeding.

By the way, apparently Thursday is part of the weekend. Among the night’s games, in addition to PC-Mercer, are Sacramento State-San Jose State, North Dakota State-Colorado, Howard-Rutgers, Eastern Illinois-Illinois, Western Carolina-North Carolina State, North Carolina-Minnesota, Arkansas Pine Bluff-Arkansas and Murray State-Missouri.

Laurens-Clinton is quite another matter and not just because they are high schools.

They are rivals dating back to the dawn of prep-football history. The Red Devils are established. The Raiders are resurgent. Both are 0-1 and thus incentivized. Clinton leads the series, 59-34-1.

“The only stat I look at is the score of the game,” said Clinton head coach Corey Fountain. “We moved the ball up and down the field (against Woodruff). We’ve got to be able to cap our drives. We were three for six in the red zone (inside the 20). That’s something we’re going to try to improve on.”

When I returned home from Newberry on Wednesday, I had an hour and 24 minutes of tape.

That’s because I left the recorder on my cell running.

Among the nuggets of wisdom in the transcript are:

Great condemnation of Presbyterian College for failing to play Newberry College. The grief in both cities stands the test of time.

The continuing good health of onetime Newberry High head coach Mike Ware, who, like many coaches, stopped aging when he retired.

Ball boys.

The Clinton fire.

Tales of Kevin Kelley’s season at Presbyterian … and Brad Senter’s time at Newberry College.

My interaction with Jerry Lewis in Las Vegas.

How football has changed. How NASCAR has changed.

Penalties for excessive playing of football.

NILs and transfers.

Oyster dressing and oyster pie.

Once a colleague of mine said I could do two minutes on any topic. I ate lunch with a table full of conversationalists, and it was fun.

Laurens Academy (2-0) faces its sternest test to date when Wardlaw (1-0) visits Todd Kirk Field for the Crusaders’ home opener.

The Patriots overwhelmed King Academy, 32-8, last week. Colt Baker, the Wardlaw quarterback, rushed for 224 yards and four touchdowns. He only threw four passes. One was caught by his team and one by the other.

It’s just the beginning. Furman and Presbyterian begin football this week, and Friday night Laurens visits Clinton.

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.

You can support my site in several ways.

Support the advertisers. They are all fine people who support 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.

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Read my modern western, Cowboys Come Home. Download it for $2.99 here. An audio version is also available.

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Thanks for putting up with me.