Grid Iron Update: Raiders rally through the rain, Red Devils roll on homecoming

Three Laurens County football teams played Friday, Sept. 18, and all three won. Storms moving through the Upstate and Lakelands shaped both public school games, stretching one past 1 a.m. and shortening the other.

Laurens District 55 High School

Homecoming at K.C. Hanna Stadium ran into early Saturday morning. Two lightning delays stopped play long enough that the Raiders did not finish off Blythewood until after 1 a.m., and by then they had turned a 14-point hole into a 38-20 win.

Blythewood scored on a 37-yard pass and an 8-yard run to lead 14-0 in the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback Logan Bragg answered with touchdown throws of 52 yards to Quinton Watts and 62 yards to Brayden Patterson, and Will Brink’s 26-yard field goal with 27 seconds left in the half sent Laurens to the locker room up 17-14.

The Raiders scored 31 straight points across the middle of the game. Bragg ran in a 5-yard score in the third quarter and found Watts again from 37 yards with 1:50 on the clock. Buddy Cheeks closed it out with a 4-yard run at the 4:34 mark of the fourth, set up by a Travion Robinson punt return to the Blythewood 9.

The win moves Laurens to 2-2 and matches the program’s win total for each of the last two full seasons. It is also the second time this fall the Raiders have taken down a Class 5A opponent, after beating J.L. Mann in another lightning-delayed game on Aug. 21.

Laurens travels to Greer on Friday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. for its last non-region game. Region 1-4A play opens Oct. 2 at home against Westside.

Clinton High School

Angelo Cromer found the end zone four ways Friday night, and the Red Devils had their homecoming game decided before the second half began.

The senior running back scored on a run, a reception and a blocked punt he picked up and carried in during the first half alone, then added a second rushing touchdown after the break. He finished with 99 yards on the ground to lead Clinton in rushing.

The Red Devils were up 47-6 at the break on the way to a 61-6 final over Union County at Wilder Stadium. Clinton finished with 511 yards of offense; the Yellowjackets ran 40 plays and lost 21 yards. Because the margin triggered the state mercy rule, the second half ran on a continuous clock, and the game ended ahead of the storms that delayed games elsewhere in the region.

Clinton is 3-1 following its Week 4 loss at Chapman. Union County fell to 0-5 and has now lost 12 in a row going back to last season.

The Red Devils play at Batesburg-Leesville on Friday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m.

Laurens Academy

The Crusaders had the longest bus ride in the county Friday and led by four touchdowns before halftime.

Laurens Academy was up 28-0 at the break at Palmetto Christian Academy in Mount Pleasant and finished with a 42-20 win. Riley Whittaker scored twice, once on a long run and once on a throw from Ethan Collins. Caleb Hardy, Elijah Hornberger, Hunter Campbell and Collins each added a touchdown.

Laurens Academy is 4-0 and hosts Wardlaw Academy on Friday, Sept. 25.

Thornwell Charter School

The Saints had a scheduled open date Friday and stay at 0-4 in their first year playing a full Class 1A varsity schedule in Region 1-1A.

Thornwell is home Friday, Sept. 25, against region opponent Dixie at 7:30 p.m.

County records to date

Laurens Academy 4-0
Clinton 3-1
Laurens District 55 2-2
Thornwell 0-4