By MONTE DUTTON

CHESNEE – A heap of Clinton Red Devils figuratively burned the Eagles’ Nest to a crisp on Friday night. Chesnee swooped, swung and soared but simply couldn’t keep up, falling by a score of 50-29.

Clinton led at halftime, 28-10.

The Red Devils have been playing ball for more than a century, but their rushing total of 503 net yards was almost unprecedented. Clinton (5-3, 2-0 Region 1-2A) fell just 23 yards of a school record, set in 2022 versus Woodruff.

In spite of the numbers, Clinton head football coach Corey Fountain wasn’t particularly pleased.

“I think we played all right the first half,” he said. “We didn’t execute great, but we were going in the right direction. I felt like we put it in cruise control in the second half, and I got on them about that. You’ve got to step on the pedal and keep moving forward as fast as you can.

“I was a little frustrated by this game. We got a little chippy. We want to keep it clean and win with class.”

On Clinton’s second play, junior K.J. Vance dashed 82 yards for a touchdown. On the third play of the second possession, Vance streaked into the end zone from 58 yards away.

Think about this. In his first two carries, Vance rushed for 140 yards. He did not wind up as the game’s leading rusher.

Another senior, Javen Cook, scored four touchdowns (for the second week in a row) and wound up with 182 yards, five more than Vance. The Man Called Zoom saw his total for the season swell to 950 yards and 19 touchdowns. He entered the end zone from 12, 32, 30 and four yards away.

Three Red Devils – Cook, Vance and Angelo Cromer (four carries, 106 yards, 74-yard TD) – exceed the century mark. The fourth member of Clinton’s Quick Quartet, Zy Butler, suffered a thigh bruise on the first play but recovered sufficiently to intercept a pass by Chesnee’s Evan-Reece Lawter in the fourth quarter.

A crowd of about 2,500 couldn’t afford to blink. Chesnee (4-3, 1-1) gained 479 total yards, Lawter, a junior, rushed for 117 and passed for 138 (10/25 with a TD and a pick).

“They do a lot of good things on offense. Give them a lot of credit. They’re a well-coached team. They do a lot of things like us. … We were able to weather the storm, finish strong and get some stops at the end of the game.”

The Red Devils averaged 15.4 yards per run. Junior quarterback Owen Glenn rushed for 43 yards and passed for 31 (4/8). Pablo Hernandez split the uprights six straight times on the conversions, and Cook added a two-point conversion.

For the season, Clinton has scored 30 touchdowns on runs of 20 yards or more and eight via Glenn passes.

The fire is spreading. Big Red has scored 60, 49 and 50 points in three straight victories. The rushing yards in victories over Union County, Liberty and Chesnee were 274, 435 and 503.

Next up is Landrum (3-4, 0-1), stunned, 19-16, by previously winless Blacksburg (1-7, 1-1) on Friday. The Cardinals take on the Red Devils at Wilder Stadium, where Clinton is only 2-2 thus far. The Red Devils travel to Blacksburg for their regular-season finale.

“We’ve still got a lot of things to improve,” Fountain said.

Laurens (1-6, 1-1 Region 1-4A) finally conducted a parade that wasn’t rained on.

The Raiders, whose only 2024 victory was 45-0 over Southside (0-7, 0-2), blanked the Tigers, 58-0, this time around. Prior to Friday night’s pleasant trip to Greenville, Laurens had scored 34 points all year.

Laurens piled up 291 passing yards and 164 on the ground.

Freshman quarterback Logan Bragg completed 11/16 passes for two touchdowns. Jamy’el Bennett led the runners with six carries for 50 yards. Denari Lee-Jackson had 47 yards in five carries, with a touchdown, and Nehemias Fernandez went six for 42 an two touchdowns.

Brock Franklin kicked eight straight extra points.

The Raiders scored 30 points in the first quarter.

Wren (5-2, 2-0), a 45-34 winner at Fountain Inn (4-3, 1-1), visits K.C. Hanna Stadium next week.

Laurens Academy (7-1) defeated Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach (0-4), 52-21, in the only game played in the county. It was the Crusaders’ second victory over the Saints this season.

Caleb Hardy led LA with 211 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Ethan Collins hit 17/21 passes for 157 yards and two TDs, both to Hardy. Hardy and Riley Whitaker each caught seven passes.

LA visits Richard Winn (3-4) next week. The Crusaders won the first game against the Eagles, 36-22, on Sept. 12.

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