With three games to go in the season, the Clinton Red Devils took time last Thursday to heal up during a bye week, look over a successful game against Union County scoring 51 points that snapped a two-game losing streak, and have representatives hear from a Hall of Fame football coach.
Head Coach Corey Fountain and JV Head Coach and Varsity Assistant Dontavius Glenn took Kadon Crawford - the county’s top player for two consecutive weeks - DJ Clark, Tray Cook and Ares Jones to the Laurens County Touchdown Club meeting featuring Wofford College’s Mike Ayers.
Each of the four Laurens County high schools’ head football coaches along with PC mentor Steve Englehart give brief remarks at each every-other-Thursday Touchdown Club luncheon.
Fountain told the group that Crawford is “an awesome young man, awesome competitor each and every week; it’s about playing for your teammates, playing for your community, playing for your school.”
Showing his versatility in light of injuries, Crawford was a defensive standout against South Aiken and an offensive standout against Union County, setting a new school record for receiving yards in a game.
Of Clark, a junior outside linebacker, wide receiver and running back, Fountain said, “Wherever we ask him to play, he’s been able to jump in there and do it; he is really a pleasure to coach and I appreciate his effort each and every week.”
Clark stepped up in the South Aiken game and filled the role at linebacker, Fountain said.
Tray Cook, a senior defensive back and running back, “every year he gives the maximum amount of the effort, he leads by example, he’s a captain on our football team,” Fountain said. “He gets knocked down, gets back up and keeps coming after you whether he’s running or blocking. He is an asset to our football team.”
Fountain said Jones is “a centerpiece on our defensive line with over seven tackles, tackles for loss and sacks; he gives maximum effort every day at practice, and is just a good young man who also leads by example; he always carries a positive attitude with him.”
This Friday, Clinton travels to Woodruff, after the bye week. The 3-5 Wolverines on Friday defeated 0-7 Emerald, 36-35, on the game’s final play - QB TJ Morris threw the TD pass with time expiring and tossed the game-winning 2-pt conversion. Prior to that, Chester defeated Woodruff, 44-6, and Broome won over Woodruff, 55-14.
Then, the regular season wraps up with a home game against #7 in the state Chester Oct. 20, and a road contest Oct. 27 against Emerald in Greenwood. Last season, the Red Devils trip to Chester decided the Region Championship, in Clinton’s favor, on their way to a 13-1 season. This season’s 5-2 team has suffered its two defeats by a total of 12 points.
Ayres (above, left)heard all the presentations from the high school and PC programs before his talk. “It’s like, we have five kids, how are you going to feed them all? For coaches it’s like that with your players. How are you going to give them all what they need?”
Ayres outlined his journey from high school football and wrestling to football at Eastern Michigan — “I took the easy way out” — then to the Marine Corps and his time as a garbage man in Ohio - when he experienced “a change in my life” - and finally back into football. Now retired and a multiple Southern Conference Championship winning coach of the Terriers who lifted the program from 1-10 in his first season, he will be inducted into the Wofford College Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Always focused on the players, Ayres asked, “What’s your job? Are you making the commitment and the effort to do the best you can do every day? Every day. … Don’t get hung up on the woulda’s and the coulda’s and the shoulda’s - get hung up and get invested in the ‘I will,’ ‘I do,’ that’s when you’ll finish the race and you will be first. When you love something, you’ll be willing to fight for something, no matter what.”
He encouraged the players to confront the question, “How good you gonna be? There are no limitations, none, except you.”
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
The Laurens County Touchdown Club is proud to announce that for games played on October 6th, the Player of the week is junior wide receiver and special teams player Josh Goodwin of Laurens District High School.
Goodwin is a wide receiver and special teams player for the Laurens District School Raiders as they defeated Riverside 18– 17 in a hard fought region contest last Friday night.
Josh Goodwin, a Laurens District High School junior and two sport athlete, had three catches for 114 yards and a touchdown for the Raiders. Along with his three receptions against Riverside he also made three key blocks on an important drive the Raiders had in the 3rd quarter.
Laurens District High School Head Coach Daryl Smith stated, “Josh Goodwin is a very talented two sport athlete playing both football and baseball. He has great hands and speed at the receiver position. What makes him a great player though is he does the things that don’t show up in the stats. He works hard in the weight room, practices hard everyday and blocks well for his teammates.”
The Laurens County Touchdown Club will honor Josh on October 19th at the bi-monthly Touchdown Club meeting. The meeting will be at noon at The Ridge in Laurens. Player of the Week awards this year is presented by Farm Bureau Insurance of Laurens County.
The October 19th meeting will feature the new incoming Executive Director of the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association taking over the reins from longstanding former Executive Director and Laurens native Coach Shell Dula.
The Laurens County Touchdown Club meets every other Thursday throughout the football season at The Ridge located in Laurens at 301 Exchange Road and the public is invited. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15. All meetings are at Noon with the food service line opening at 11:45 am. On behalf of the Touchdown Club Board of Directors, I would like to thank each of you for your support. Congratulations to junior Josh Goodwin – Laurens District High School as the Laurens County Touchdown Club Player of the Week for October 6th.
Thanks and Best of Luck to all county teams this week, Gene Simmons, President, Laurens County Touchdown Club
