By MONTE DUTTON

In 1968, John Wayne was in a movie called Hellfighters. It was loosely based on a Texan named Red Adair who made his living putting out oil fires. He set off an explosion that blew out the fire.

The idea was to fight fire with fire. That’s what one set of Red Devils did to another on Friday night at Wilder Stadium in front of a homecoming crowd of about 4,000. Clinton extinguished Liberty, 49-6.

It was sort of breathtaking, kind of like those explosions in Hellfighters. (As regular readers know, I’m fond of old movies and country songs.)

It’s rare for a team to average more yards per rush (14.5) than it did per pass (12.3), though junior quarterback Owen Glenn played well. He completed 4/6 for 74 yards.

Every time the crowd blinked – and they were all rooting for Red Devils – it missed a Clinton (4-3, 1-0 Region 1-2A) run. The Red Devils (local variety) ran only 36 plays and held the ball for 14 minutes, 59 seconds. One team was riding Top Fuel dragsters; the other was going as fast as it could in golf carts.

Javen Cook scored four touchdowns on runs of 20, 41, five and 32 yards. No one there wondered why his nickname is “Zoom.” Cook had 10 carries for 132 yards. Angelo Cromer turned a grand total of five carries into 121 yards. K.J. Vance added 77 yards in four attempts. Zy Butler turned his four tries into 63 yards.

“What we try to do is get better every week,” Cook said.

Mission accomplished. Clinton visits Chesnee (4-2, 1-0), which opened region play with a 48-19 victory over Blacksburg (0-7, 0-1), next week.

“Our first two [region} opponents are probably the toughest,” Fountain said.

The usual 85 yards in penalties were no more significant to the game’s outcome than the average length of kickoffs (55.4) or punts, which was zero because Clinton never punted. Somewhere ex-Presbyterian head coach Kevin Kelley was smiling.

Liberty (4-3, 0-1) ran an offense that, by comparison, was ponderous. Shrine Bowl running back Kendall Jackson rushed 16 times for 71 yards. He had to be envious of the other Red Devils’ line. In the total-yardage category, Clinton won, 509-203. In rushing, it was 435-125.

Clinton had scoring drives of 61, 70, 77, 61, 22, 59 and 88 yards. Amari Grant twice intercepted Liberty quarterback Caleb Pilgrim (7/13, 65 yards, one touchdown).

Homecoming had roughly 2 minutes, 17 seconds of drama. That was the time between Pilgrim’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Conner Hood, closing Clinton’s lead to 7-6 and Cook’s 41-yard touchdown on fourth-and-one with 9:35 remaining in the first half.

From then on, the Clinton offense ran mathematics while Liberty was running arithmetic. Clinton’s camera ran at a much higher shutter speed, leading, 21-6, at halftime and adding four touchdowns in the third quarter and another in the fourth. The game was all but over at halftime and took only 2:14 from coin flip to final horn.

“We were trying to get it to (at least) a 42-point lead so we could get a running clock,” said Fountain. “The longer you stay on the field, the more the chance of guys getting hurt.”

Liberty entered the game with the highest average points in Class 2A (32.5).

As best expressed in French, au contraire.

Laurens (0-6, 0-1 Region 1-4A) got off to a fast start that was the lone highlight in a 26-7 loss to Fountain Inn (4-2- 1-0).

The Fury couldn’t find Nemo on the opening play when Raider runner Nehemias “Nemo” Fernandez dashed up the middle for a 71-yard touchdown.

That, unfortunately, was it. Fountain Inn quarterback Sam Holliday threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another score.

Laurens Academy (6-1, 2-0 SCISA eight-man Region 1) racked up a 36-14 victory over Wardlaw Academy (1-4, 1-2) at Todd Kirk Field.

The Crusaders leave the region next week, hosting Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach (0-3), which they defeated, 42-16, on the coast on Sept. 5.

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