"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 Click here. The South Carolina-Clemson meeting of the Laurens County Touchdown Club – it’s held a week early because next Thursday is some holiday or something – was a civil, sportsmanlike affair at The Ridge.No one made reference to Chickens and Kittycats. Mascots didn’t square off and threaten to scuffle. No one …
Continue reading County Signs: Gamecocks, Tigers really love each other
PJay Smith was almost perfect behind the arc (Monte Dutton). Click here. This time the Petrels flew into the storm.Stormy Petrels are seabirds. Oglethorpe University of Brookhaven, Ga., adopted them as its mascot. Petrels are not migratory. Furman basketball is migratory this year and played Oglethorpe, a Division III school, at Legacy Early College’s Parker …
Continue reading Furmanology: Purple storm scatters Petrels every which way
By MONTE DUTTON Brett Young, then wearing No. 35, rushes Chester's Trooper Floyd in last year's game (Monte Dutton photo). Click here. Chester (5-5) is neither the team ranked No. 1 in Class 2A before the season nor the one that lost its first three games.The visitor in Friday night’s playoff game at Wilder Stadium …
Continue reading County Signs: Resurgent Cyclones to blow in
By MONTE DUTTON Freshman Trey Hedden stepped back into the starting lineup and led the Paladins to victory (Furman photo). Click here. I spent the first half of Sunday catching up on this site, that and watching an old film noir titled “The Big Combo,” with Cornel Wilde and Richard Conte.As a measure of how …
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. I sometimes quibble with the basic math of football coaches.A team shouldn’t go for two until it has to. On Saturday night, Missouri was down, 21-6, and scored a touchdown. The Tigers went for two and failed. They tried because they wanted to get within seven points, but missing left …
Continue reading County Signs: PC wins again; Crusaders in state finals
Pjay Smith dropped 29 points on Tulane (Monte Dutton photo). Click here. A vintage weekend in Furman athletics began on Friday night with big payback against Tulane on Friday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in men’s basketball and continued with a long-awaited football resurgence in Johnson City, Tenn.Both were as sweet as pecan pie.Seniors …
Continue reading Furmanology: Basketball wins 4th straight; football pulls an upset
By MONTE DUTTON Junior K.J. Vance hits his stride (Monte Dutton photo). Click here. The most important – and most exciting – play of Clinton’s 56-0, Class 2A playoff victory over Pelion occurred with 17 seconds remaining in the first half.After Pelion (2-9) ran out of downs at the Clinton 20, quarterback Tushawan Richardson and …
By MONTE DUTTON Clinton has won its last three first-round playoff games by a combined score of 168-42 (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. The first round of the playoffs should be a parade. Or a fireworks display.That’s what it’s going to be, anyway.The Friday night Pelion (2-8) beats Clinton (7-2) at Wilder Stadium, Matt Gaetz …
Continue reading County Signs: Come to Wilder Stadium for at least a half
(Monte Dutton photo) Click here. The day after Bob Richey and men’s basketball ride a three-game win streak into the home Well, where another 3-0 team visits, Clay Hendrix and his football team visit Johnson City, Tenn., hoping to shine some light on a dim season,It’s a tale of two teams, the best of times …
By MONTE DUTTON Clay Hendrix stays the course in the face of adversity (Furman photo). Click here. Clay Hendrix keeps his head up. Furman football, after consecutive 10-3 records, is in danger of having its worst season in 52 years.The Paladins’ precipitous slump is rooted in inexperience and injuries, which have ravaged the defense, in …
Nightrider's Lament 