By MONTE DUTTON

Squalls out on the Gulf Stream / Big storms coming soon – “Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season,” Jimmy Buffett

In this case, according to the most recent forecast I saw, it’s no big deal here. Dry winds from Yucatan weakened Francine, and it looks like her remnants are headed up the Mississippi in the direction of Saint Louis, but its bands of water are likely to affect us, and, as a result, Clinton High’s football game at Chapman has been moved up from Friday to Thursday.

The JVs are playing in Clinton on Wednesday, not Thursday, night.

In my little corner of the world, it’s a relief.

Fatigue is a factor in my weekends. Last week I worked on the high-school games until about 4 a.m., slept until 10 and went to work on the games I hadn’t attended. I went to a college game on Saturday, but it wasn’t until the evening.

This week the college game is Saturday afternoon. I was dreading the turnaround.

Laurens is at A.C. Flora, which is in Columbia. Laurens Academy is at Richard Winn Academy, which is in Winnsboro. Assuming the Raiders play on Friday night, I’ll follow on radio.

The urgency is in previewing the games a day early.

Clinton is ranked third in Class 2A according to the current S.C. Media Poll. Flora got votes in 4A and Chapman in 3A.

So here goes …

The obvious goal for the Red Devils is to get off to a good start in Inman, where the game begins Thursday at 7:30, and WPCC (1410 AM, 94.5 FM, largetime.net) goes on at 7.

Clinton (2-1) has trailed in the first half and picked up steam in the second of every game. The Red Devils’ offense has picked up steam and taken advantage of its opportunities. The defense has reliably stiffened.

Chapman (2-1) has a win over Saint Joseph’s Catholic and losses to Daniel and Boiling Springs.

The Red Devils lost to Woodruff and defeated Laurens and Newberry.

Javen Cook, the Clinton rushing leader in the past two games, ran for 235 yards against Newberry and has 444 for the season. Quarterback Tushawan Richardson has thus far completed 14/28 passes for 264 yards and had a 147-yard rushing performance versus Woodruff.

The Panthers won, 22-21, last season. Clinton has won seven of the past 13 meetings.

Laurens (0-3), which, at this writing, was still scheduled to play on Friday, lost its top two quarterbacks against Clinton. The backup, J.T. Campbell, is back to face the Falcons.

A.C. Flora (2-1) has a quarterback, Roger Wentzky, who has hit 55/81 throws for 10 touchdowns and 688 yards.

Kendall Byrd has caught 27 for 311 yards.

The Raiders have thus far lost to Hillcrest, Clinton and Belton-Honea Path. The Falcons have defeated Westwood and Christ School (Arden, N.C.) and lost to Chapin.

WLBG (AM 860, FM 104.1, wlbg.com) goes on the air and internet at 6:25 for the 7:30 game.

Laurens Academy (3-1) faces its usual stern test against the Eagles, to whom it has lost 12 of the past 14 meetings.

The Saints have defeated Cambridge, Newberry Academy and Oakbrook, falling to Wardlaw.

Richard Winn (3-0) has rolled over Oakbrook, Newberry Academy and Wardlaw.

For the Saints, Garrett Murphy has rushed for 510 yards and four touchdowns. Ethan Collins has completed 52/75 passes for 706 yards and seven scores.

Game time has been moved up to 6:30, not the usual 7:30.

Laurens baseball pitcher Grayson Ledford has announced a commitment to play at Limestone, and Clinton lineman Tre Aiken has an offer from the University of South Carolina, among many other FBS schools.

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