By MONTE DUTTON

For the second year in a row, Clinton High School is off to Chapin to participate in the final exhibition warm-up to football season. For the second year in a row, the Red Devils are entering the season with one of its warm-ups erased by weather.

On Friday, at Chapin, Clinton faces Class 4A Gray Collegiate, quite likely one of the better 0-10 teams in state history. The two-quarter tilt opens at 6 p.m.
Last season, the War Eagles forfeited seven games they won. Their unlitigated losses were to Baylor (of Chattanooga, Tenn.), 42-7; Dutch Fork, 35-7; and North Augusta, 20-17.

Clinton, meanwhile, was busy winning the Class 2A state title, defeating Barnwell, 35-6, in the finals.
WPCC (1410-AM, 96.5 FM, largetime.net) is broadcasting the Red Devils’ segment of the Chapin Kickoff Classic. Afterwards, Irmo plays Eastside, Midland Valley takes on the Anderson Cavaliers and host Chapin meets Mid-Carolina.

Meanwhile, Laurens takes on a North Carolina school, Chase, to open Gaffney’s annual jamboree, also at 6 p.m. Laurens Academy is hosting an 8-man jamboree on Friday, as well.

Clinton’s ninth state title took place 15 years after its eighth. The Red Devils are ranked at the top of Class 2A in the preseason state media poll. Clinton lost a number of standouts to graduation, but head coach Corey Fountain has another strong senior class. Leading the returning starters are North Carolina State commit Tre Aiken at tackle, prodigious rusher Javen Cook, linebacker Jaydon Glenn, free safety Maison Tinsley, safety Chris Boyd and running back Rhett Gilliam. Many will see action on both sides of the ball.

The new quarterback, junior Owen Glenn, looked sharp in a 14-7 exhibition win over Fountain Inn. He succeeds Tushawan Richardson, now playing at Newberry College.

The early schedule is demanding as Clinton opens at Class 3A Woodruff, then visits 4A Laurens before taking on 3A Newberry, 3A Chapman and 4A Daniel at Wilder Stadium. The Red Devils then visit 3A Union County – last year’s game was rained out – before turning to Region 1-2A and facing Liberty at home on Oct. 3. Clinton then visits Chesnee, hosts Landrum and visits Blacksburg.

Last season Clinton (12-2) won its region games by a combined score of 205-79 for an average of 51-20. The Red Devils raced through the playoffs past Pelion (56-0), Chester (48-20), Batesburg-Leesville (31-14), Fairfield Central (32-21) and Barnwell.

The biggest challenge is staying healthy. Clinton enters the season deep at the skilled positions and ample but thin in the lines.

The state title was Fountain’s third. He won two at Lamar and took two more teams to the finals.

After the Fountain Inn scrimmage, Coach Fountain said, “We were a step slow. … We’ve got to make plays on defense and get [the other team’s] offense off the field. Offensively, we’ve got to make sure that we don’t jump offsides.”

Of his new quarterback, he said, “Owen (Glenn) did a good job of executing the offense, making good reads, and the backs did a good job of hitting the holes and blocking for each other. We’ve just got to keep on building.”

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