By MONTE DUTTON

The state football playoffs begin in the S.C. High School League and continue in the S.C. Independent School Association with two Laurens County schools, Clinton (7-2) ,and Laurens Academy (8-3), alive.
Only the Red Devils are at home on Friday, facing Pelion (2-8) at Wilder Stadium.
Laurens Academy won its first-round game over Cross School.
Presbyterian College (4-6, 2-4 PFL) has two more games, next Saturday at Marist (1-9, 1-6) in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and on Nov. 23 at home against Butler (8-2, 4-2).
Marist’s first victory was on Saturday, 40-31, over Stetson (2-7, 0-5).

A disastrous fourth quarter doomed Laurens on Friday night at home against Fountain Inn.
The Raiders led 14-6 entering the final 12 minutes against the Fury. The final score was 35-14. Fountain Inn (6-4, 2-3 Region 1-4A) broke the game open with two rushing touchdowns, of 39 and 1 yards, by sophomore Bojack Johnson in the first 5:45 of the final quarter.
The Fury added two more scores – on a 16-yard interception return by Xeviel Gonzalez and a 58-yard gallop by quarterback Sam Holliday – and 3:15 remained when the scoring ended.

The setback ended Laurens’ season. Lakewood (2-8) of Sumter and Dreher (3-6) of Columbia secured the at-large slots.
Laurens (1-9, 1-4) had only 35 total yards in the fourth quarter; Fountain Inn had 176.
The catastrophic final period skewed the statistics, obviously. The Fury unleashed 430 total yards on the Raiders, allowing 233. Fountain Inn rushed for 349 and passed for 81. Laurens countered with 135 and 98.

Laurens quarterback Will Thompson was 9/17 for the 98 yards but was intercepted twice, by Fountain Inn’s Gonzalez and Colby Flood, who picked off Raider backup Jace Campbell (0/2), as well.
Two Fountain Inn rushers, Holliday (18-171) and Johnson (21-152), combined for 323 yards.
The Raiders’ leaders on the ground were Denarius Lee-Jackson (13-40), Thompson (14-37) and Nehemias Fernandez (9-30). Brayden Patterson caught four passes for 41 yards.
B.J. Curenton caught four of Holliday’s seven completions for 32 yards.

Laurens broke on top on Thompson’s five-yard run with 6:07 left in the second quarter.
Fountain Inn scored first on Holliday’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Will Knight – the extra point was blocked by Demyjah Watts — at the 6:35 mark of the third quarter, but Laurens retook the lead on Lee-Jackson’s six-yard run five minutes, 31 seconds later.
Holliday later compensated for the blocked PAT by running for a two-point conversion.
Brock Franklin converted both LDHS kicks.

As is common when football playoffs begin with a 7-3 team playing one that is 2-8, Laurens Academy crushed Cross School, 56-22, Friday night.
Thus are now the Crusaders 8-3 and the Stingrays 2-9.

One quirk of the game was that the statistics listed Laurens Academy with 268 yards passing and 262 receiving. I was of the impression this was impossible.
But … who’s quibbling on six of 453 total yards? Not I.
Senior Garrett Murphy churned out his usual gaudy total on the ground, rushing for 141 yards on six carries, establishing a 13.5 norm and scoring a pair of touchdowns.

Quarterbacks Ethan Collins (9/11, 163 yards, 3 TDs) and Elias Littleton (6/6, 105, 2) combined for 15/17
Mason Cooper led in total tackles with eight.
The Crusaders’ next test is a stern one. LA (8-3) travels to Blackville to face Robert E. Lee Academy (11-0), a 12-0 winner over Holly Hill Academy, on Friday in the SCISA eight-man second round.

A fine Presbyterian women’s soccer season ended frantically as No. 1 seed USC Upstate ousted the Blue Hose from the Big South tournament, 2-1, in Matthews, N.C.
It was scoreless until the final minutes, when the teams combined for three goals.
Upstate took the lead in the 81st minute on Paige Armstrong’s goal, assisted by Savannah Noll.

Then junior forward Sloan Spees tied the match at 84:53 on a free kick, only for Upstate to answer right back with three minutes and 19 seconds on the clock. Noll and Catarina Dantas assisted Dara Russo’s game-winner with 3:19 remaining.
In year one under Matt Smith, Presbyterian (7-6-5) surpassed its win count from the past three seasons combined. USC Upstate (8-4-4) advanced to the finals.
The first Clinton football team to win a region championship was not the varsity.

On Thursday night, the Red Devil junior varsity polished off Liberty, 34-12, to finish 8-1 overall and 4-0 in Region 3-3A.
Angel Vargas scored two rushing touchdowns. Emmanuel Lagroon and Bryland James also scored via the run.
Grayson Watkins threw a touchdown pass to Braylin Swindler.
“Our kids played extremely well and grew throughout the year,” stated coach Dontavius Glenn. “I’m proud of our kids and coaches. We have a bright future in Red Devil country.”
Laurens (3-3-1) finished off its JV season with 29-0 shutout of Fountain Inn.

Finding the end zone were B.J. Hill, Isai Fernandez, Damajia Crooks and A.J. Mumford. Buddy Cheeks and J.J. Bennett added two-point conversions.
Nasir Sanders intercepted a pass. Backup QB Khamarius Moore led the final scoring drive.

The lead changed hands seven times on Friday night as the fifth-ranked Presbyterian College women’s wrestling team dueled Campbellsville on the renowned USS Yorktown CV-10 Essex-class aircraft carrier, with the Blue Hose prevailing, 23-21.
The main event of the Throwdown on the Yorktown, PC took the victory via 207-pounder Ella Beam, who notched a 10-0 tech in just over three minutes.

The one-point win is the closest in the program’s short history. They gained a measure of revenge over the Tigers after stumbling in the matchup in the spring.
While PC and Campbellsville split the 10 matches on the Battleship, the Blue Hose were able to squeak by thanks to four of their wins by either pin or technical.
The entire contest was played within a five-point window, as the Hose closed the dual on a 9-4 sprint. Beam and freshman May Cuyler (160) made up those nine points with a fall and a tech.

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