By MONTE DUTTON

Whoever heard of playing the three biggest rivals in the first three football games?

Does Alabama open with Auburn, Tennessee and Ole Miss? Florida with FSU, Miami and Georgia? The Philadelphia Eagles with the Ravens, Bills and Chiefs? The Los Angeles Dodgers with the Giants, Padres and Angels?

No, no, no and no.

Clinton High does. It has played its first three opponents – at Woodruff, at Laurens and Newberry at Wilder Stadium on Friday night – 293 times. The Red Devils’ cumulative record in the three series is 181-107-3. The record against Newberry is 59-35-1.

They’re all rivalries, but they’re not all alike. Woodruff toughed out a 21-13 victory. Clinton deconstructed Laurens, 50-0. Newberry (2-0) is likely to more of the former than the latter. Of the 12 games the Red Devils won en route to the Class 2A state championship, the Bulldogs offered the closest call (23-14).

Newberry’s first two games have been quite similar. The Bulldogs demolished Union County, 62-14, and Mid-Carolina, 45-0. Newberry is ranked in a tie for sixth in Class 3A. Clinton (1-1) is tops in 2A.

Class 3A No. 1 Belton-Honea Path visits Laurens (0-2). Laurens Academy (2-0) visits Myrtle Beach Christian Academy (0-1). All three games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. starts.

Clinton High is honoring its 1975 state championship team all season long, but the main celebration is this weekend.

The Red Devils, coached by Keith Richardson, finished 13-1 and defeated Myrtle Beach, 14-6, in the 3A finals 50 years ago on the Seahawks’ home field.

The festivities begin Friday with a team meal in the CHS cafeteria at 5 p.m. At 6:30, the ceremonies shift to the large gym at Clinton Middle adjacent to Wilder Stadium. At 7:15, team members will enter the stadium and sit together, then be honored on the field at halftime.

Another team celebration is scheduled for Whiteford’s in Clinton, leading into “Saturday Morning Rewind,” live at 9 on WPCC (AM 1410, FM 96.5, largetime.net).

A team reception gets underway in the CHS Commons at 6:30, followed in the Auditorium with concluding ceremonies at 7 p.m.

The 1975 title was the school’s third and Richardson’s second (out of six). Last year the Red Devils won their ninth.

Every year, Steve Englehart is the second speaker on the Laurens County Touchdown Club schedule. This year the timing was perfect.

Presbyterian College is 1-0, and what a one it was. The Blue Hose took on Mercer, to which it fell 63-10 a year earlier, and left Macon, Ga., with a 15-10 victory.

Even 2023’s upset of Wofford pales in comparison to this one. Mercer has been in the FCS playoffs the past two years and won the Southern Conference last year.

Presbyterian College does not award football scholarships.

How does Englehart keep his team together?

His slogan for the team is “Pull the Rope.”

The secret, Englehart said, is, “recruiting, development and retention.”

Next up for the high-flying Hose? Saturday afternoon at Furman (1-0), 2 p.m.., ESPN+.

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