By MONTE DUTTON

Monday, from morning to mid-afternoon, was fast, and then, because my wifi turned balky, it turned slow.

Presbyterian College has a weekly media conference at 10. Furman University has one at 11:30. I decided to see if I could make both of them. I could. Being a fool, I’ll likely keep doing it, with the occasional incidence of an open date.

I had planned to have lunch with a colleague on the Paladin beat, but it fell through and I hadn’t a bite to eat. I stopped off at the Cracker Barrel in Fountain Inn (or Simpsonville; it’s between exits). I thought about how every place at which regular people like to eat gets parodied by pundits.

Cracker Barrel. Olive Garden. Applebee’s. Chipotle.

Back when I traveled extensively, a Cracker Barrel was a connection with home. It was a place I could reliably order grits in Michigan. They’re in 45 states, you know.

So I got the Monday lunch special, and I splurged for a slice of Coca-Cola cake because I wanted to know what it was. I couldn’t tell it from chocolate, but it was tasty.

I expect few coaches have ever been asked about winning for the 11^th straight time against a school it hadn’t played in 72 years.

Erskine lost to Presbyterian in 1951 and promptly dropped football for 70 years. The Flying Fleet went out with Truman and returned with Biden. They were supposed to play for Trump, but COVID hit and they’d didn’t take off until past Inauguration Day of 2021.

Steve Englehart’s Blue Hose won, 31-14, at J.W. Babb Stadium, principally known as the home of the Greenwood Eagles.

Red-shirt freshman Collin Hurst subbed ably for Ty Englehardt, the head coach’s son, who actually injured his shoulder before the Mercer game.

“They x-rayed it at first and then tested strength and everything,” Steve Englehart said. “The strength was good, but he didn’t get good and loose. He went ahead and played at Mercer, and then it continued.”

Ty Englehart probably won’t return for Saturday’s game at home, PC’s first, against Virginia University of Lynchburg.

Of Hurst, a Davie, Fla., product, Englehart said, “I think he processes really quickly and makes quick decisions. He threw some good balls that gave our receivers a chance to go get it.”

With respect, it’s a long way from FCS power Mercer to Division II Erskine and longer still to VUL, a private HBCU that plays most of its games on the road. The Dragons (0-2) have thus far fallen to Wagner, 46-7, and Livingstone, 37-9. PC has beaten VUL the past two seasons.

The Dragons play three home games this year, the first on Oct. 19. VUL has a second game with a Pioneer Football League member, visiting Butler on Sept. 28.

“We still have to play a whole heck of a lot better,” said Englehart. “There were a lot of things we didn’t do very well (versus Erskine). We’re happy to come away with a win, but we turned it over in the red zone twice.”

Clinton’s Javen Cook, who is fast, powerful and built like a middleweight, is the Laurens County Touchdown Club’s Player of the Week.

In the Red Devils’ 23-14 victory over Newberry, Cook, a junior, rushed 22 times for 235 yards and a touchdown, including runs of 39 and 49 yards. He averaged 10.7 yards per carry.

In three games, Cook has netted 444 yards on the ground.


Head coach Corey Fountain stated, “Javen has tremendous work ethic.  He is learning to become a leader on and off the field. In the past two games he has run the ball with great determination and explosiveness. We look forward to seeing his progress the rest of the season.”

The next TD Club gathering is Thursday, Sept. 19, at The Ridge in Laurens. The guest speaker is Furman head coach Clay Hendrix.

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15. All meetings are at noon with the food-service line opening at 11:45 am.

The county’s teams went 3-1, with Clinton winning in Newberry, Laurens Academy prevailing at home, PC winning in Greenwood over Erskine and Laurens falling hard in Honea Path.

For the season it’s 6-6, matching the national average.

This week sees Clinton (2-1) at Chapman, Laurens at A.C. Flora, Laurens Academy at Richard Winn and Virginia of Lynchburg at Presbyterian.

Red-shirt sophomore Lina-Marie Müller is Big South Offensive Player of the Week in women’s soccer.

Müller amassed a Division I school-record three assists in victory over The Citadel. She followed that up with a 16^th-minute goal in a 2-2 draw versus Georgia State opponent.

The PC women are unbeaten in their last five matches after the tie with the Panthers (1-3-2).

The Blue Hose (5-1-1) equaled the score thanks to a 50^th-minute penalty kick from senior Sarah Dieffenderfer.

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