By MONTE DUTTON

After seven straight football victories, Presbyterian College fell, 35-19, in Dayton, Ohio, last Saturday. The game started at noon, so I watched it on my laptop while sitting in the Paladin Stadium press box.

On Monday, PC head coach Steve Englehart said, “It wasn’t that we played badly. It’s just that there were some key situations. If you take away a few penalties, when were down there in scoring position …”

Of course, you can’t.

“It just wasn’t necessarily our day, and we didn’t play our best football,” Englehart added. “Dayton had something to do with that. There’s a learning experience to everything. We’ve got to get back to work.”

Furman defeated The Citadel, 24-14. The game began at 2. Only the PC loss marred a lovely, though grueling, weekend. I was fresh off a road trip to a high-school game and four hours’ sleep. Clinton High had ended its regular season with a fifth straight victory and a fourth straight region championship.

It will take more than a victory on Saturday against Valparaiso at Bailey Memorial Stadium to erase the memory of Presbyterian’s 11-game winning streak (over two seasons). The Blue Hose won every game for more than a calendar year.

The public phenomenon ran its course. PC dropped out of the two principal FCS rankings. It took only one misstep. The Blue Hose had been the beneficiary of disappointing seasons in Clemson and Columbia. Not too long ago, PC barely got mentioned on the local TV evening news. They were the “in team” for a while. Our little town has perked up and taken notice.

Presbyterian (7-1, 3-1) is a prohibitive favorite against Valpo (1-7, 0-4). I expect the Blue Hose will win prohibitively. They’ll put out the Beacons with a vengeance. The realization of their own mortality will only make them better. PC now trails Drake (5-2, 4-0), which it does not play, in the Pioneer Football League standings. The Bulldogs of Des Moines, Iowa, have remaining games against Butler (Ind.), Saint Thomas (Minn.), Dayton and Morehead (Ky.) State.

“We can’t let Dayton beat us twice,” said Englehart. “It’s up to the team to get back on the horse this week and go out prepared to play Valpo. You’ve got to have a short memory and not worry about what happened last week.”

For Presbyterian to climb back up the FCS rankings — it dropped from 16/19 to 22/25 — it’s going to have to win the league, which, at minimum, requires victories over Valparaiso, Davidson (1-7, 0-4), Saint Thomas (5-3, 3-2), and Marist (N.Y.) (3-5, 1-3) … and some help. Drake has the tougher schedule, but PC cannot control its destiny.

Every team has that one game when it seems as if everything goes wrong. Presbyterian endured such an afternoon in Dayton. Quarterback Collin Hurst is unlikely to throw three interceptions again. The offense is unlikely to convert 2/10 third and fourth downs. Both PC platoons are deep and balanced. What head coach Englehart and staff have assembled is a marvel for a school that does not award scholarships.

For the fifth time, Presbyterian’s game against Valparaiso starts at 1 p.m. It’s Military/Hero Appreciation Day. Valpo’s leading rusher is Michael Mansaray with 325 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Rowan Keefe is 56/97 but with 11 interceptions and only three TDs. Ryan Ricketti has 24 receptions for 230 yards.

Presbyterian’s leading rusher is Zach Switzer with 597 yards and eight TDs. Justin Montgomery has 521 and six. Hurst is 136/200 for 1,958 yards, 20 TDs and eight picks. Dominic Kibby has 28 catches for 342 yards; Cincere Gill has 27 for 602. Linebacker Boyce Bankhead has made 65 tackles. Caleb Francis has intercepted four passes.

A loss notwithstanding, Presbyterian has pulled upsets over Mercer and Furman (who play each other Saturday). Switzer’s grandfather is a hall-of-fame coach, Barry of Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys renown. The Blue Hose also have a Will Ferrell, though unrelated to his namesake, in their defensive backfield.

All the Blue Hose have left is to finish the deal and see what happens.

For the third time, Laurens Academy’s Caleb Hardy is the Laurens County Touchdown Club’s Player of Week.

The Crusaders defeated Richard Winn Academy, 78-64. Hoest to gosh.

A junior H-back and linebacker Hardy had 24 carries for 368 yards and four touchdowns. He made eight catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns and scored three two-point conversions. Defensively, Hardy amassed 17 tackles, 5-1/2 for loss, a quarterback pressure, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. 

Head coach Jolly Doolittle said, “Caleb has a desire to do everything on and off the football field well. He is a relentless worker and competitor.  He is a great player but an even better young man who leads, serves and performs to the best of his ability.”

 The TD Club will honor Hardy and the previous week’s recipient, Javen Cook of Clinton, on Thursday at noon. Groucho’s Deli is the caterer at The Ridge, 301 Exchange Road, Laurens. Tickets are available at the door for $15. The food line opens at 11:45.

Pete Yanity, the sports director and principal anchor at WSPA-TV 7 since 1990, is the guest speaker.

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