By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. It was a pleasant Monday afternoon as the Laurens Academy football team endeavored to become more agile, hostile and mobile. Seventeen cavorted about, blocking and tackling stuffed implements of various sizes, leaping, hurdling, stepping, sidestepping and generally trying to get up to wherever the snuff is. Up …
Tag: Monte Dutton
Here come those tight ends again
Brock Chappell (Furman photo) Click here. It has become fashionable in recent years to define position groups as “rooms.” The one that figuratively contains the Furman tight ends is well appointed. Since 1977, Furman has produced 34 All-Southern Conference tight ends, and the last two years that roll of distinction has included a pair of …
County Signs: Olympics or laughs or both?
By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Based on my experience, some athletes belie their public image and others reflect it. One of the better examples is Bill Elliott, whom I like. Elliott, though, is far from his Huck Finn image. He is one of the moodier athletes I’ve ever known. Sometimes Elliott would …
Paladins again have ample depth in defensive line
(Furman photos) Click here. Furman’s defensive line has a sense of loss. It lost a pair of All-Southern Conference performers, end Jack Barton and tackle Matt Sochovka, but the loss of Bryce Stanfield leaves lingering sorrow. Stansfield died suddenly in February. Furman’s success the last couple of seasons, highlighted by 20 wins and a 2023 …
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County Signs: One day at a time
By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. It wasn’t hot … yet. It wasn’t yet 8 a.m. when the varsity Red Devils joined the JVs out on the practice field Saturday morning. By the time it ended, sweat was prevalent, even for guys walking around with cameras. They needed to wash their shirts, anyway. …
Furman linemen must pick up the slack
Luke Petit (Furman photo) Click here. Newcomers are going to be common when Furman takes the football field this season. Some of the more watchful eyes are focused on the offensive line, where the Paladins lost four regulars with a combined 112 starts from a 10-3 team that won the Southern Conference. “Obviously we have …
County Signs: Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose
By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. Sometimes I judge television shows on the basis of how well I can work with it in the background. Sports watching isn’t efficient, but it’s convenient. Just bear down on the words until announcers start yelling. Take a break to watch the replays. A writer develops a …
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County Signs: August sweat breeds autumn success
(Monte Dutton photo) Click here. The summer sports doldrums are ending. The football teams are hitting the practice fields. Scrimmages begin in a week. Laurens Academy gets a head start with a game on Aug. 16 against Cambridge Academy in Greenwood. The Laurens and Clinton seasons begin a week later, both at home in big …
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Furmanology: Paladins won’t back down
By MONTE DUTTON Xavier Stephens (Furman photo) Click here. Some football coaches poormouth in the preseason. They hedge their bets. Others try to build confidence by analyzing their teams optimistically, seeking to build confidence in the ranks. Furman head coach Clay Hendrix has a novel approach. He just says what he thinks. The Paladins have …
Hope springs, comparatively speaking …
By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) Click here. When Steve Englehart arrived at Presbyterian College, in the spring of 2022, amid the ruins of the Year of Living Dangerously with Kevin Kelley, about 30 football-playing warm bodies greeted him. On Wednesday morning, Englehart greeted his third team of Blue Hose, now numbered 117. None of …
Nightrider's Lament 