By MONTE DUTTON
Clinton High School has won nine state football championships. In all-time victories, the Red Devils rank 10th in the state’s history with 715. The leader is Summerville with 856. The only other school above 800 is Gaffney with 846.
One consequence of historic success is that the state championships stand above all other seasons.
The members of those titlists – 1939, ’72, ’75, ’77, ’78, ’85, ’87, 2009 and ’24 – receive an exalted status that spans their lives. Seven other Clinton teams have won the Upstate.
This year’s Red Devils reached the third round of the Class 2A playoffs, winning seven straight games before succumbing to Fairfield Central. They led Clinton to its 22nd region title (only measured since 1960).
This year’s 9-4 team averaged more yards per play (8.7) than any of its predecessors.
Running back Javen Cook established school records for points scored in a game (34) and season (224). His 334 yards rushing against Landrum set a school mark, as did the Red Devils’ team total of 533 rushing yards in that game.
Cook’s per-carry average (10.6) eclipsed the record set by quarterback Tushawan Richardson (10.3) a year earlier. By the way, with less than a third as many carries as Cook’s 172, K.J. Vance averaged 13.1 yards per attempt.
The senior’s rushing total for the season was 1,828 yards. The school record belongs to Brian Kingsborough (2,545, 2006), followed by Harold Goggins (2,172, 1974).
In seven seasons as head coach, Corey Fountain ranks third in victories with 62 (trailing Keith Richardson’s 239 and Andy Bee Young’s 154). Four previous head coaches have served more years at CHS (Richardson 24, Young 17, R.P. Wilder 9 and Claude Howe 8). Fountain’s .738 winning percentage is second only to Richardson’s .805.
Tackle Tre Aiken is headed to North Carolina State and the Shrine Bowl. Also playing for the Sandlappers is Laurens kicker Brock Franklin.
Cook and Chris Boyd are to play in the Touchstone Energy (North-South) Bowl.
The Pioneer Football League’s Offensive Player of the Year is Collin Hurst.
Who else?
The Pioneer Football League’s Coach of the Year is Steve Englehart.
Who else?
A native of Davie, Fla., Hurst completed 197/289 passes (.681) for 2,684 yards and 26 touchdowns. He is 16-5 since becoming PC’s starting quarterback last season.
Hurst’s passing TDs are sixth best of any FCS quarterback. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 13 consecutive games dating back to last year, tossing a career-high five touchdowns in a comeback, overtime stunner at Furman.
The rise of Blue Hose football has seen Englehart at the center of it all, transforming a 1-10 program three years ago into a team that was nationally ranked for six straight weeks this season. Presbyterian started the season with a 7-0 record, reaching as high as No. 16 in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
PC never lost at Bailey Memorial Stadium this year in six games, a feat the program had not accomplished since 1998. Dating back to October 2024, the Blue Hose witnessed a school-record 11-game winning streak that traversed a full year.
Drake (8-4, 7-1 PFL) was awarded the PFL’s automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs, leaving the Blue Hose as one of the “First Four Out” in the field of 24. They hold a better overall record than 14 of the 16 teams that were chosen for at-large bids in the first round.
PC finished tied with San Diego (8-4, 6-2) for second to the Bulldogs at 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the PFL.
Englehart has defined upward mobility in his four years at the PC helm. He lost 10 games in 2022 and won 10 this year. Overall, he is 21-25.
Furman defensive end Joshua Stoneking is one of three finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award as the nation’s best FCS defensive player.
The winner is to be announced on Jan. 3, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. A national voting panel narrowed 30 finalists down to three: Stoneking, Fordham linebacker James Conway and Mercer defensive end Andrew Zock.
Stoneking, a 6- 3, 264-pound redshirt sophomore from Raleigh, N.C., had FCS regular-season highs in sacks (14-1/2), tackles for loss (23) and tackle yards for loss (132). He had at least one TFL in 11 of 12 games and matched his season high of 10 tackles out of 79 overall in the other game. He also totaled nine quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, two pass breakups and one blocked kick.
His sacks accounted for 56 percent of Furman’s 26 total sacks, and his 23 tackles for loss represented a third of the Paladins’ tackles for loss this season, the highest percentages among SoCon defenders.
In Furman’s 28-24 win over Campbell on Sept. 13, he totaled six tackles, including 4-1/2 tackles for loss of 21 yards, 2-1/2 sacks and a forced fumble. His final sack, which came on fourth down and with 16 seconds on the clock and Campbell at Furman’s 17-yard line, preserved the win for the Paladins.
Stoneking’s 23 tackles for loss rank third in Furman history, and his sacks tied for fourth in a season by a Paladin.
Furman linebacker Will Bouton placed third in Buck Buchanan Award balloting in 2001.
The Award is named for legendary defensive lineman Junious “Buck” Buchanan, who starred at Grambling State as part of his Hall of Fame career.
PC football has established a new all-time high in its 113-year history, claiming 11 all-conference selections for the first time as part of Tuesday afternoon’s Pioneer Football League announcement.
PFL Coach of the Year, Eddie Robinson Award finalist and AFCA Region 4 Coach of the Year Steve Englehart led the Blue Hose to a 10-win campaign for the third occasion in school history, rising as high as No. 16 in the national polls.
For the second straight season, Presbyterian earned six All-PFL First Team accolades: quarterback Collin Hurst (Offensive Player of the Year), wide receiver Cincere Gill, tight end Nathan Levicki, defensive lineman Carter Szydlowski, linebacker Boyce Bankhead and defensive back Caleb Francis.
Additionally, PC boasted five All-PFL second-teamers: running back Justin Montgomery, all-purpose back Zach Switzer, offensive lineman J.T. Hill, defensive lineman Robert Porter and freshman defensive back Camron Barber.
That is enough to better the previous school record for most all-league selections (10) which was established in 1987 when PC was a member of the South Atlantic Conference.
The 2024 and 2025 Blue Hose football teams are now tied with each other for the third-most players on an all-conference first-team list. The record of eight first-teamers in 1979 still stands, as does the 2005 squad’s achievement of seven first-team nods.
The Furman men’s basketball team returns to action Wednesday night when it travels to face former Southern Conference foe Elon.
Wednesday’s game is set for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Schar Center in Elon, N.C. Fans can listen to Dan Scott and Tom Van Hoy call the action on The Fan Upstate at 97.7 FM and 1330 AM in Greenville, 97.1 FM and 1490 AM in Spartanburg, and via the Audacy app.
The Paladins are 4-4 on the season after going 1-1 at the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports. Furman edged A10 foe and former SoCon member Richmond, 73-72, on Thanksgiving morning before dropping a 72-65 decision to Illinois State of the Missouri Valley Conference in the championship game of the Imagination Bracket on Friday afternoon. Freshman Alex Wilkins, who ranks seventh in the country among freshman, averaging 18.4 points per game, poured in 26 in the win over Richmond before scoring 25 against the Redbirds.
Wednesday’s contest marks the 19th meeting between Furman and Elon with the Phoenix holding an 11-7 series lead. Furman has won the last three meetings, including a 97-61 verdict in the most recent meeting on Nov. 26, 2019.
Elon is 4-3 after dropping a 91-84 decision to Mercer on Saturday at home. Guard Chandler Cuthrell leads the Phoenix and ranks sixth in the nation, averaging 22.9 points per game.
Following its trip to Elon, Furman returns to Timmons Arena to host the Harvard Crimson on Saturday at 2 p.m.
A highlight of Presbyterian College’s 2024-25 season was a 71-68 victory over eventual Southern Conference champion Wofford on Nov. 13, 2024, at Templeton Center.
The 5-5 Blue Hose and the 5-3 Terriers meet again at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Spartanburg.
Big South-aligned Presbyterian has already defeated the SoCon’s East Tennessee State and Citadel this season.
The PC women (2-7) visit Timmons Arena to take on Furman (3-5) on Wednesday evening at 6.
Stupidest thing on TV: “Live on tape from the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City!”
Unheard of: New York Giants kicker Younghoe Koo failed to reach the ball on a 47-yard field-goal attempt on Sunday night against the New England Patriots. His foot hit the turf before it hit the ball. Koe said he stopped short because the ball was moving on the hold.
Never have I seen this.
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