By MONTE DUTTON

The few high-school football teams left playing share a common sense of destiny.
They all believe they are going to win the state championship, regardless of classification.
The lads playing ball at Clinton (10-2) and Fairfield Central (12-1) are both going into Friday night’s game at Wilder Stadium convinced they are going to win. They think they’re going to win the Class 2A state championship the following Thursday.
Only one will win that title. That’s why a loss is so difficult this time of year.
Last week the folks who came up from Batesburg and Leesville were certain they were going to win. The week before, the same was true for the folks who drove over from Chester.
The week before that, the folks from Pelion … well, probably not.
Ya gotta believe.

A horrible first half was more than Presbyterian’s men’s basketball team could overcome on Tuesday as Florida A&M edged the Blue Hose, 66-63, in Tallahassee, Fla.
Sterling Young, with 17 points, Milton Matthews, with 13, and Jacobi Hendricks, with 12, paced the Rattlers.
The loss dampened the performance of Presbyterian’s Kory Mincy, who pumped in 29 points on 50 percent shooting, 40 from beyond the arc.

Kobe Stewart scored 12 points. Kaleb Scott pulled down 13 rebounds.
Florida A&M (2-5) built a 32-22 halftime lead.
It was a sloppy game, as reflected in the stats. The Rattlers forced an uncharacteristic 20 Blue Hose turnovers. Florida A&M shot .373 from the field, Presbyterian .350.
The Rattlers’ bench outscored their PC counterparts, 31-5.
For all that, Presbyterian (5-5) pulled within a point on two Stewart free throws with 1:05 remaining. Hendricks hit two free throws with five seconds to play. PC’s last gasp ended with a Mincy turnover.
Take a look at the stats here.

Six PC football players – and seven overall – made All-PFL. The six were on the first team.
Dominic Kibby (wide receiver) of Catonsville, Md., Worth Warner (tight end) of Raleigh, N.C., Zach Switzer (return specialist) of Spring Hill, Tenn., Carter Szydlowski (defensive tackle) of Mount Pleasant, Tenn., Alex Herriott (linebacker) of Hanahan and Caleb Francis (cornerback) of Jacksonville, Fla., were the first-teamers.
Wide receiver Cincere Gill, of Foxboro, Mass. made second team.
The Blue Hose had as many first teamers as the league champion, Drake.

Head coach Steve Englehart’s third season in Clinton resulted in the college’s most first teamers members since 2005, when Presbyterian was a member of the Div. II South Atlantic Conference.
San Diego’s Ja’seem Reed was offensive player of the year, and teammate Eri Haney took defensive honors. Valparaiso’s Sam Johnson was the top special teamer.
As reported earlier, PC quarterback Collin Hurst was top freshman on offense and Marist’s James Kratochvil on defense.

Todd Stepsis of Drake was Coach of the Year.
Presbyterian’s women’s wrestling team extended its home winning streak to a full three years by downing Mount Olive, 35-12 on Tuesday night.
Chloe Dearwester (110) and Cassia Zammit (131) kept their perfect individual records intact versus UMO, while 138-pound freshman Carina Giangeruso moved to 10-1 on a 12-2 tech that was finished off in less than a period.
The Blue Hose will stay in Clinton for an early-season showdown against third-ranked King next week. The action will start at 6 p.m. on Dec. 10.

The PFL released its academic honors with senior quarterback Warner Bush, of Smyrna, Ga., on the first team and three others on the second team.
Bush has a 4.0 grade-point average, one of only six on the league list to claim that distinction.

Dominic Kibby, Alex Herriott and Ezra King of Newborn, Ga., were the second teamers.
The PFL’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year is Saint Martin lineman Eric Rasmussen.
Basketball is off and running, though not at full speed with the Clinton boys, many of whom are still occupied with football.
The girls improved to 3-1 by running past Emerald, 43-26. The Red Devils found their groove in the second half after the teams played to a lackluster 12-12 halftime tie. Clinton led, 4-1, after a quarter.

McKenzie Clark led the Devils with 18 points, followed by Kemaria Shelton 8, Bryanna Belton 6, Jakia Burton 4, Mylayja Thompson 4 and Ja’Neshia Burton 3.
The depleted Clinton boys also managed to roll past the Vikings, 56-46.
The teams were scheduled to visit Laurens on Friday, but that evening’s activities have been postponed due to the matter of the Upstate championship football game at Wilder Stadium.

Laurens Academy’s teams are both 3-0 after victories over Wardlaw.
The Crusaders captured the girls game, 42-29, led by Sadie Bruyere with 17 points and Braylee Burke with 10.
Also etched in the scoring column were Brooklyn Senn 7, Mackenzie Runyan 5, Madisyn Graham 2 and Makayla Lindley 1.
Brayden Burke’s 21 points keyed the boys to a 59-52 victory over the Knights. Garrison Vaughn added 14.

Micha Straight added 8 points, Garrett Murphy 6, Tristan Bates 5 and Chesney Watkins 5.

“I guess that I’ve fought tougher men, but I really can’t remember when.” – Shel Silverstein, “A Boy Named Sue”
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