County Signs: Raiders make Rams earn it

By MONTE DUTTON Will Thompson had little room to rove against Hillcrest (photo courtesy John Clayton) Click here. Laurens waged a war of attrition on opening Friday night at K.C. Hanna Stadium, where Hillcrest defeated the Raiders, 16-0. Against the Rams, ranked fifth in Class 5A, Laurens had little chance after the 7:52 mark of …

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Flip the switch on the Friday-night lights

By MONTE DUTTON Greg Porter (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. I admit it. It’s no secret. I’m getting old. Old people like things like they were before. It doesn’t mean old things are better. It just means they’re familiar. The Laurens County Touchdown Club’s first meeting was familiar on Thursday at The Ridge. Three of …

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County Signs: Where everyone scores touchdowns

By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. One gathering I miss when football ends is going every other Thursday to the Laurens County Touchdown Club. I almost always get there early. I get to almost everything early except bed. I like to mingle and interact. I’m the same way at ballgames. I chat with …

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County Signs: Three rivalries to open prep season

By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. I’m so excited. I just can’t hide it. It’s only Monday. Woodruff and Clinton played opening night for about a half century. Hillcrest and Laurens have played on opening night for as long as I’ve been back from the NASCAR wars. For years, Clinton was always Class …

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County Signs: Raiders, Red Devils from a week’s distance

By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Laurens football would be a question mark wrapped in an enigma, anyway. New coach with big name. Lots of new players, tough schedule. It’s not hard to figure out the Raiders are going to be better. It is to anticipate how much. Laurens has only faced another …

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County Signs: Crusaders go first

(Monte Dutton photos) Click here. On Friday night, there will be football. Honest-to-gosh, bona-fide, counts in the standings, football. It’s eight-man football, and it’s in Greenwood, where Laurens Academy kicks off the whole county season with a visit to the den of the Cambridge Cougars. It’s sort of week double-zero. Clinton and Laurens open thunderously …

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County Signs: Change is the rage

By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. Here’s my prediction for professional football. Because most of the starters play little, if at all, in exhibition games – and that’s exactly what they are, even though the NFL insists on “preseason games” – the beginning of the actual season will be sloppy. The middle of …

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County Signs: Raiders pass only preseason test

By MONTE DUTTON The Raiders were at full song (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. It doesn’t get much better than the Olympics men’s basketball game between Serbia and the USA. I watched the first half, took a shower, dressed in dirty pants and old shoes in preparation for mud, and headed to Honea Path, where …

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County Signs: Not how it’s said around here

By MONTE DUTTON Corey Fountain and the Red Devils had their first scrimmage rained out for the second straight year (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. It’s impressive that everyone in the state knows how to pronounce my hometown’s name. Clinnun. Area broadcasters who call the university in Columbia “South Cuh-lina” know how to pronounce Clinton, …

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