By MONTE DUTTON

CLINTON, S.C. – A grueling road trip home – after a similarly taxing down-and-back-up to Furman – was, incredibly, worth every minute and mile.

The previous time I saw Clinton High School in action was an extra-inning victory that claimed the Class 2A baseball championship. Those hometown heroes showed off their rings at halftime. Several were wearing their Red Devil football uniforms.

One threw the game-winning pass. Another scored two touchdowns.

On Friday night in front of, oh, about 7,000 fans, the outcome was decided with two seconds remaining. A relatively gentle rain fell during the first quarter, which may have lessened the crowd, but not by much. This one was must-see.

Even though Laurens is Class 4A and Clinton 2A, this game is a big deal. The Red Devils won the Laurens County championship, 29-22, for the sixth year in a row. The Raiders (1-1) are much better. Clinton (1-0)  won last year’s game, 50-0.

I took the old good-luck truck, C.W., downhill Friday afternoon and uphill in the wee hours of Saturday.

With seven seconds to play and the game tied, first-and-goal from the three, senior quarterback Owen Glenn calmly found Caleb Gary in the middle of the end zone for the winning score. Glenn, one of the baseball champions, led a 10-play, 75-yard drive in the final 2:28. He handled the ball in each of the final eight plays. His 25-yard scramble on third down preceded the winning TD play. Four of Glenn’s five completions were in the final two minutes.

“I was just a part of a great team win,” he said. “This is an awesome way to start. It was a great opportunity for all of us to play together and pull it out.”

The Raiders – buses, fans, kits and kaboodles – came to Wilder Stadium loaded for bear but couldn’t quite handle the Red Devils. The Raiders play three of their next four games at home. Clinton is on the road for five of the next six. Another nearby rival, Newberry (1-1), is next. Southside Christian (1-1), a Region 2-2A opponent of Clinton, visits Laurens next week.

Corey Fountain, 6-1 against Laurens (the teams did not play in COVID-impaired 2020) and 63-22 at Clinton, playfully declared it “Clinton (not Laurens) County.”

“We’re young, and we’ve got a lot to improve on,” Fountain said. “We got backed up with not much time, and we kept plugging away and we kept playing hard. Laurens is a good team. Coach (Greg) Porter has turned that program around.

“We’ve got a hard road in front of us, but this was certainly a great way to start.”

Angelo Cromer led the Red Devils with 17 carries for 152 yards. Rhett Gilliam rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns. Glenn also gained 66 yards on the ground.

The Raiders’ sophomore quarterback, Logan Bragg, hit 16/23 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown.

Another sophomore, Travion Robinson, gained 123 of Laurens’ 132 net rushing yards. Clinton rushed for 359 yards and outgained the Raiders, 393-264, overall.

Laurens broke on top on Robinson’s 62-yard, first-quarter dash, and the Raiders led, 14-8, thanks to another Robinson ramble of 35 yards. Clinton led at halftime, 22-14, but Laurens tied the score with 8:59 to play on Bragg’s 59-yard connection to Brayden Patterson and an Elijah Cheeks run for the two-point conversion.

Laurens ran out of downs at the Clinton 13 in the third quarter. The Red Devils ran out of downs at the Raider 17 with 5:41 remaining. Laurens punted it back to Clinton, which started the decisive drive at its own 25.

Most of my books are available at Amazon. Two of my novels, Cowboys Come Home and Lightning in a Bottle, are available in audio versions.