Just a little bit closer

By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photo) https://www.scfbins.com/agents/buddybridges I would love nothing better than to see all the teams about which I care win big, but I am getting a mite frantic. Thus far, I have not been present at a single close football game: Clinton: 42-7, 49-7, 63-6. Laurens: 9-55, 7-42. Furman: 45-10, 21-47. Presbyterian: …

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PC takes a celebration to Wofford

By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photo) https://www.sadlerhughes.com/ Presbyterian College’s 48-17 victory over Virginia University of Lynchburg wasn’t a program changer, but it was a start. The Blue Hose defeated an opponent – any opponent – soundly for the first time since Kevin Kelley coached his second game in 2021. Like Fort Lauderdale, VUL was barely …

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Take their medicine, get back to work

By MONTE DUTTON Joshua Harris (Furman photo) https://dunesproperties.com/agent/mark-mitchell/ The mood at Clay Hendrix’s weekly media conference was best expressed in an 1888 poem by William Ernest Henley, who was British and thus unlikely to have competed in American football. My head is bloody, but unbowed. The poem’s name is “Invictus.” I had to memorize and …

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A brave front afterward

By MONTE DUTTON Hugh Ryan skirmishes with South Carolina's Xavier Legette. (Furman photos) https://dunesproperties.com/agent/mark-mitchell/ My lingering memory of South Carolina’s 47-21 victory over Furman wasn’t on the Williams-Brice Stadium surface. It was in the postgame media conference. Hugh Ryan, the Paladins’ much-decorated safety, sat there in anguished agony. He’d had a rough night. A lot …

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Blue Hose save lightning for later, 48-17

Blue Hose defense converges. (Monte Dutton photos) https://www.sadlerhughes.com/ Presbyterian College came out of halftime with a vengeance to win the Bailey Memorial Stadium opener, 48-17 over Virginia University of Lynchburg, on Saturday afternoon. A lightning delay seemed to zing the Dragons, who gave up a 28-point run after a pause of an hour, 77 minutes. …

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Paladins can’t corner Rattler

By MONTE DUTTON Xavier Stephens can't quite get there. (Furman photo) https://dunesproperties.com/agent/mark-mitchell/ COLUMBIA – A disastrous ending to the first half opened the floodgates in South Carolina’s 47-21 victory on Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks’ well-traveled senior quarterback, Spencer Rattler, didn’t allow any opportunity for the Paladins to reverse that flow. The epitaph …

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Panthers bite back quickly and often

(Monte Dutton photos) https://www.facebook.com/UpstateInsuranceConsultants INMAN – With 8:09 left in the first quarter, Brock Franklin kicked a 35-yard field goal that that gave Laurens the lead. Unfortunately, that was it. Coleman Gray, the Chapman quarterback, completed 19/23 passes for 202 yards and four touchdowns, and his backup, Josiah Moore, was 7/7 for 44 and one. …

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A stand-up guy leads the Blue Hose

By MONTE DUTTON Steve Englehart's Blue Hose play their first home game Saturday. (Monte Dutton photo) https://www.sadlerhughes.com/ In telling his own story, Steve Englehart delivered an important message to young people in general, not just the ones who play football. Englehart, the second-year head coach at Presbyterian College, told the Laurens County Touchdown Club on …

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Paladins dream of chicken dinner

By MONTE DUTTON Tyler Huff passed for 172 yards and rushed for 42 in the season opener. (Monte Dutton photos) https://dunesproperties.com/agent/mark-mitchell/ It’s improbable. It’s unlikely. It’s unexpected. Furman is playing South Carolina on Saturday night at 7:30. The Paladins have lost eight of their last nine visits to Columbia and 13 of their last 14 …

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