By MONTE DUTTON

A state championship is the ultimate achievement in high-school sports until, all of a sudden, it isn’t.

Clinton High, like every other occupant of the proverbial mountaintop, enjoyed the experience so much that the prospect of another seems irresistible.

It’s not easy. Last year, when the Red Devils were 12-2, wasn’t easy, but it was the ninth crown in school history. There’s lore involved.

Laurens County got together at The Ridge for the first meeting of the football tribes on Thursday. Clinton, Laurens, Laurens Academy and Thornwell Charter showed off a handful of players, and everyone seemed upbeat and optimistic.

They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like we do. That kind of stuff. If they had a pants-putting-on competition, they’d probably all tie.

Steve Englehart, whose Presbyterian College team still has a week to wait, introduced a delegation of Blue Hose. PC enters the season riding a four-game win streak and coming off a 6-6 record. Englehart is the principal speaker at the next Laurens County Touchdown Club meeting on Sept. 4.

Everyone was freshly scrubbed, polite to a fault and genial to one another. Friday night brings with it banners, fight songs, students wearing pajamas and yellow flags strewn about. From a smattering to a throng, everyone gets a mite agitated.

Clinton opens its season at Woodruff (Friday), at Laurens (Aug. 29) and home against Newberry. In history, the Red Devils have played those three schools 211 times, compiling a 179-88-4 record. The record against Woodruff is 55-27-1, but the Wolverines upended Clinton, 40-36, to open the 2024 season.

Corey Fountain is 53-18 as he embarks on his seventh season at the Clinton helm. He is 46-8 over the past four.

Junior Owen Glenn takes over at quarterback in Tushawan Richardson’s stead. Tre Aiken anchors a revamped line. The Red Devils are rife with runners, led by jump-cutting Javen Cook. It will take good health to keep Clinton wealthy and wise.

It’s presumptive that Laurens will be better. Greg Porter’s history is one of reliable improvement. The Raiders open at Hillcrest, where Porter won a state title in 2014.

Laurens, 1-10 last year, is starting a freshman quarterback, Logan Bragg. Two quality rushers, Denari Lee-Jackson and Nemo Fernandez, return along with three other offensive starters and three on defense.

The Raiders prepped with a 28-8 jamboree win at Gaffney. That’s hard to valuate, too. The North Carolina school was 2-8 last year. The schedule includes a state champion, Clinton (2A) and two runners up, Westside (4A) and Belton-Honea Path (3A).

Laurens needs a breakthrough early. In games 2-4, Clinton, BHP and A.C. Flora all visit K.C. Hanna Stadium.

Laurens Academy, playing the eight-man hybrid, advanced all the way to the SCISA finals, where Richard Winn overpowered the Crusaders.

The pieces for another successful season are in place for Jolly Doolittle’s third year.

It’s Senior Night at Thornwell. Repeat. The first game is Senior Night. Saints, building a varsity program under first-year head coach Adams Dean, are playing only three games – the junior varsity plays six – and only one is at home.

American Leadership Academy of Lexington is the opponent. The Patriots were 0-9 last year.

Clinton at Woodruff is to be broadcast locally via WPCC (96.5 FM, largetime.net) at 7 p.m., with Saturday Morning Rewind at 9 a.m. Laurens at Hillcrest is to be streamed at golaurens.com.

Oh, goody! It’s now possible to buy radioactive shrimp at Walmart. Have no fear. George Sink was a Marine.

“You’ve got to make sure, if you’re facing one of the game’s great hitters, if it’s not a strike, it’s a ball.”

Duh.

I saw a news short claiming that owning dogs contributes to climate change. This is something hardly anyone is willing to give up. You know what the best way to combat climate change is? Stop having wars.

Two nights ago, I dreamed about a song I wanted to learn. Then I got up and forgot it. Watching the Little League World Series brought it back. The song was Kinky Friedman’s “Rapid City, South Dakota.”

Never was there rich Corinthian leather, and there certainly isn’t an oil made of or from Olay.

For years, my site has been supported by reader contributions. If you’re interested, you can make modest monthly payments on my Patreon page or a one-time contribution via Venmo (@DHKSports). Every little bit helps.

It pays for gas to Blacksburg and some pregame Mexican. It pays for pictures and gamers and wee-hours coffee.

Most of my books are available at Amazon.