"Why do they [write] for their money? Why do they [work] for short pay? They ain't getting nowhere and they're losing their share. They must have gone crazy back there." — Michael Burton (paraphrased)
By MONTE DUTTON Clayton Lawson (60), Tre Aiken (70) block downfield for Javen Cook (Monte Dutton photos). Click here. A state championship carries with it inherent uncertainty. It’s similar to the way major-league baseball was before interleague play.Clinton (11-2) and Barnwell (13-1) haven’t played … ever. Neither has played any team the other has this …
Continue reading County Signs: One more step to glory for Devils
By MONTE DUTTON Clay Hendrix is riding the comeback trail (Furman photo) Click here. Perhaps there is some consolation in Furman’s 3-8 record in football.The Paladins are hardly alone in upward or downward mobility.Arizona State improved this year from 3-9 to 11-2. Florida State fell from 13-1 to 2-10. The Seminoles are a poster child …
Continue reading Furmanology: Paladins conquer Buccaneers, 58-42
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. It’s been a great football season for Clinton. It was a great one for Laurens Academy, a good one for Presbyterian College and a disaster for Laurens High.At the beginning of the season, I thought the Raiders would have Laurens County’s most improved team. Now I think they will next …
Continue reading County Signs: The game changes as much as the games
By MONTE DUTTON Brett Young, Jaydon Glenn team up to collar Fairfield Central's Kaden Diggs (Monte Dutton photos). Click here. High-school football is fun, but it’s hard. It’s worth it. It changed my life. Once upon a time, it made me think I could do things if I set my mind to them, and when …
Continue reading Big Red punches its ticket to the state, 32-21
By MONTE DUTTON Kynius Williams on the pass rush (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Nothing could be finer than to be in Clinton, South Carolina, at least until Friday night when the Red Devils’ further fate is decided in the Upstate football championship of Class 2A.It’s at Wilder Stadium, the last home game of the …
Continue reading County Signs: Battle royal looms at Wilder Stadium
By MONTE DUTTON Ben Vander Wal became the 11th Paladin to score in double figures this season (Furman photo). Click here. It’s early in the annual basketball wars, but both Furman teams are storming the proverbial beaches so far.The men's Dins of Bob Richey and the women of Pierre Curtis are a combined 15-4, and …
Continue reading Furmanology: ‘Paladins, Paladins, where do you roam?’
By MONTE DUTTON The season is up in the air (Monte Dutton photos). Click here. The few high-school football teams left playing share a common sense of destiny.They all believe they are going to win the state championship, regardless of classification.The lads playing ball at Clinton (10-2) and Fairfield Central (12-1) are both going into …
Continue reading County Signs: Last teams playing are true believers
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. It’s funny how many times common results and scores, otherwise lesser means of comparison, are cited when the choices of who gets in and who gets left out are defended.For all the formulas and analytics, the selection committees swap more horses than the Pony Express ever did.In college football last …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. Believe it or not, it once snowed several times a winter here. This is one aspect of climate change I do not regret. I’ve grown too old for snow. It’s all I can do to walk across a gravel parking lot in the dark.Careful. Don’t get in a hurry.I watched …
By MONTE DUTTON (Furman photo) Click here. After a rash of brawls marring the great football rivalries of the land, I put some thought into the nature of untoward behavior at gridiron gatherings.First of all, I’m one to write. Among the mistakes of a misspent youth was once touching off a brawl in a high-school …
Continue reading Furmanology: Student-athletes gon’ be student-athletes
Nightrider's Lament 