Category Archives: Sports
Powdersville stuns Daniel with late score to halt streak
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
POWDERSVILLE — Hanging on to a 35-28 lead with just 14 seconds left in the game, the Daniel Lions needed just one more stop in Friday night’s third-round playoff battle at Powdersville.
The Daniel defense, which had rounded into one of the state’s best after having to replace eight starters to startthe year, had been battered by 46 Patriot rushes, and on the third-down play from the Lions’ 1-yard line, they were
unable to stop Powdersville quarterback Eli Hudgins from getting to the edge and cutting the lead to 35-34 with 8 seconds remaining.
Luckily for Daniel, the Patriots gave the Lions another chance for a game-winning stop as they elected to try
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Clemson defense makes statement in win over Miami
By Ian Taylor
Courtesy The Journal
news@thepccourier.com
CLEMSON — Clemson will finish the year with at least 10 wins for the 12th time in a row after dismantling Miami 40-10 at home on Saturday.
The No. 9 Tigers (10-1, 8-0 ACC) now have the second-longest active streak of 10-win seasons in the country — only behind Alabama’s streak
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Smith steps down as PHS football coach
PICKENS — Just two weeks removed from the end of its season, the Pickens High School Blue Flame football program is in search of a new head coach after Chad Smith stepped down from the position on Friday.
A PHS graduate and former Blue Flame football standout, Smith guided the program for six seasons, with a 17-41 record and two playoff berths. The Blue Flame finished 4-6 this fall.
“Pickens High School would like to thank Coach Smith for his leadership over the football program for the past six years,” Pickens principal Jeff Duncan said in a statement released by
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This week in FOOTBALL FRENZY!
LIONS DISTROY WOODRUFF TO SET UP SHOWDOWN WITH POWDERSVILLE 2B, EASLEY SEASON IN REVIEW 3B, LIBERTY SEASON IN REVIEW 4B, PICKENS SEASON IN REVIEW 5B, CLEMSON BOUNCES BACK AGAINST LOUISVILLE 7B
All this and so much more in this week’s FOOTBALL FRENZY, exclusively in the Pickens County Courier NOW ON SALE! Get the print edition at a grocery, drug or convenience store near you. LOGIN AND SEE ENTIRE SECTION!
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Daniel’s Williams wins state XC title
By Eric Sprott
Courtesy The Journal
eric@upstatetoday.com
CENTRAL — The amount of effort that Ashby Williams pours into honing her craft gives her ample reason to go into races with confidence.
But add in a touch of fear, and she’s particularly hard to hang with — something her opposition on Saturday morning in Columbia learned the hard way.
The Daniel High School sophomore was at her very best at Clemson University’s Sandhill Research and Education Center, as she captured the individual Class 3A
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County athletes sign with colleges
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
COUNTY — With the fall athletic season nearing its end, the first signing period of the year is here for high school athletes, and students from Pickens and Liberty have already taken advantage by signing to compete at the next level.
Pickens High School hosted the first signing event last week, with Macie Gentry and Cooper O’Sullivan signing to continue their athletic careers next fall.
Gentry, a multi-year starter and 2021 Class 4A state champion on the Pickens volleyball team, will continue her volleyball career at North
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Lions use strong start to wallop Woodruff
CENTRAL — After falling into old habits with a slow start in their playoff opener against Southside, Daniel head coach Jeff Fruster didn’t want to see a repeat with the Lions hosting the Woodruff Wolverines in the second round on Friday night.
“Our start was a little less than what our expectation was last week, so I challenged our kids to get off the bus,” Fruster said.
The Lions seemed to take the message to heart, as they whooped the Wolverines from wire to wire in a 55-17 win to advance to the third
round of the playoffs.
The biggest change from the previous week came in the play of quarterback Blaine Simons, who was able to attack
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Green Wave continue to grow in Durrah’s second season
EASLEY — Building a high school football program is certainly a process, but most casual observers would agree that Easley’s football program is definitely on the upswing.
Building off of last year’s home playoff berth, the Green Wave finished 6-5 in 2022, making the state playoffs for a second consecutive year after finishing fourth in the region.
There were some big wins — including late comebacks over J.L. Mann and Pickens — and there were some games where the breaks didn’t go Easley’s way.
Graduating 24 seniors who have played a lot of football, including several
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Liberty sees improvement in year two under Sutherland
LIBERTY — After winning just two games in head coach Paul Sutherland’s first season at the helm, the Liberty Red Devils took some big steps forward in their 2022 campaign, doubling their win total and making the playoffs for the first time under Sutherland.
The Red Devils’ turnaround began in week 0 as they traveled to Greenville to take on the Carolina Trojans. Led by a hard-nosed rushing attack from running back J.J. Hernandez and quarterback Peyton Reed, the Red Devils were able to jump out to a 17-0 lead in the first half. From there, the Liberty defense continued to hold up its end of the bargain by holding the Trojans to just 88 yards of offense in a 17-6 win.
The following week, the Red Devils played at home for the first time on the season, hosting Blue Ridge. The Liberty defense continued to look
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Blue Flame see highs and lows in Smith’s final season
PICKENS — Moving into one of Class 4A’s toughest regions this season, the Pickens Blue Flame still managed to get close to .500 in head coach Chad Smith’s final season at the helm of the program.
Smith will be stepping down as head coach while remaining athletic director at the school.
The Blue Flame opened the 2022 season with a bang as they traveled to Iva in week 0 to take on Crescent. In a back-and-forth contest, the Blue Flame managed to come out on top 31-28 after a late sack by Landon McKinney dashed the Tigers’ hopes.
The Blue Flame kept the momentum going in their next matchup at home against
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