By MONTE DUTTON

Have you ever awakened feeling discombobulated? Have you ever heard the word?

My first thought was, Oh, geez, I gotta get to Furman.

The second thought was, Oh, geez, I gotta get back to work on the Clinton game.

My third thought was, Hmm. Nature calls.

Clinton played Thursday night on account of it was supposed to rain less Thursday than it did on Friday. Laurens is playing Friday on account of A.C. Flora, which plays on turf that is artificial, thinks it will be fine.

Furman is playing Stetson, and Presbyterian is playing Virginia University of Lynchburg, on Saturday, and it is no surprise at all.

The fourth quarter of the Red Devils’ visit to Chapman in the Inman foothills took an hour.

By the end, players, coaches, parents, fans and auxiliary personnel were figuratively singing Bobby Bare.

I wanna go home / I wanna go home / Oh, how I want to go home.

The Red Devils spent a week at Panther Stadium on Thursday. They had class in the morning! I expect they’ll survive. These kids practice at 6 a.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Now returning to our regularly scheduled programming …

Presbyterian College hopes to capitalize on an opportunity to rise above .500 for the first time since Kevin Kelley’s 2021 team opened the season with two victories before the Blue Hose lost the remaining nine games.

Steve Englehart defeated Virginia University of Lynchburg in each of the past two seasons. Last week PC (1-1) conquered Erskine, 31-14, after falling, 63-10, in the opener at Mercer.

VUL (0-2), which did not play a home game last season but has three scheduled this one, has thus far fallen to Wagner, 46-7, and Livingstone, 37-9.

This is the first of three consecutive home games at Bailey Memorial Stadium. The Blue Hose haven’t played three in a row at its friendly confines since 2019.

PC has, however, prevailed in its last four home openers. Game time is 1 p.m. on Saturday.

VUL, coached by Tim Newman, has won only once in the past three seasons.

Zach Switzer’s score on a kickoff return at Erskine was the first for the Blue Hose since the COVID spring of 2021.

Linebacker Alex Herriott moved into third place in PC’s FCS record book for career tackles with 285. He has averaged 90 tackles per season since arriving in 2021

Trips to Winnsboro are typically taxing for Laurens Academy, which fell to Richard Winn, 56-20. Details are thus far sketchy, but suffice it to note that the Eagles (4-0) led, 35-12, at halftime and Garrett Murphy scored all three Crusaders touchdowns.

Laurens Academy (3-2) also got a two-point conversion from Mason Cooper.

The Crusaders take on King Academy next week at Todd Kirk Field.

When the captains met at midfield for the coin flip before Thursday’s 49-27 victory over Chapman, running back Javen Cook, wore No. 35, Kevin Long’s number at CHS. Long, one of two former Red Devils to play in the National Football League, died earlier this week in Columbia.

Cook then donned his No. 3 jersey and proceeded to rush for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

Clinton leads the all-time series against Chapman, 23-6.

Behind two goals from Damorney Hutchinson and a goal and an assist from Iragi Kalala, Presbyterian (3-2-1) blanked Virginia Military (2-4), at Martin Stadium on Thursday afternoon, 3-0.

 “A classic professional win,” coach Nick Finotti said. “It was a good performance by our guys. The game model was applied consistently. We created a number of scoring chances, as evidenced by the number of shots and corner kicks we created. Total team effort on the shutout.”  

In the 15^th minute, Presbyterian’s Steven Cordova’s corner kick from the left side of the field found Sandro Rabarivony near the right post about eight feet from the goal. He tapped the ball to Kalala near the right post, who punched it in for his second goal of the season.

In the 44^th minute, Presbyterian’s Bryce Burdette made a long pass from PC’s defensive third of the field to a streaking Hutchinson just past midfield. Hutchinson beat two VMI defenders down the left side of the field and sent a shot from 10 yards out past VMI’s goalkeeper Zack Murphy inside the right post.

In the 55^th minute, Kalala executed a through pass from the top of the box to Damian McGregor-Wickham down the right side. McGregor-Wickham crossed the ball to Hutchinson, who tapped the ball into the back of the net.

 Presbyterian’s defense limited VMI to one shot, which came in the 89^th minute. The Blue Hose compiled a 20-1 advantage in shots.

Presbyterian returns to the road with a game in Lynchburg, Va., against Liberty on Wednesday, Sept. 18. 

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