The more things change in football, the more they stay the same. The 1975 Clinton Red Devil State Championship team, which was honored this past Friday on Keith Richardson Field at Wilder Stadium, opened its season against the same three opponents that the 2025 Red Devils are opening against - Woodruff, Laurens, and Newberry.
The 1975 team won those three games, on their way to a 13-1 record. However, they played a different brand of football; and they did not face, in that Newberry game at least, an experienced quarterback like Kenton Caldwell. The Bulldog signal-caller’s 4 touchdown runs were more than enough to spoil the party, in a 41-12 Newberry win. (The ‘75 team won this game, 13-12, on a Tony Hunnicutt 12-yard run and a Binky Shealy extra point.)
The 2025 Bulldogs now have scored more than 140 points against their opening three opponents. The loss drops Clinton to 1-2 on the young season, in non-region action, in defending their AA state title.
Caldwell, in addition to running the ball into the end zone 4 times, accounted for 219 yards rushing and 199 yards passing, with an air TD. He was named the CNNGA Player of the Game for Newberry which took The Belt away from the Red Devils, and earned bragging rights for a year. For Clinton, Jaydon Glenn was named the Academic Player of the Game and Chris Boyd was named the Player of the Game. Clinton ran for 223 yards, and Javen Cook accounted for 102 of those; but 76 came on one run. Cook scored a 2nd quarter touchdown on the ground, after quarterback Owen Glenn ran in a score, also in the 2nd quarter.
Asked about trying to mount a comeback – Newberry scored the first time it possessed the ball and never looked back – Clinton football head coach Corey Fountain said, “We’ve just got to take it one play at a time. It’s a step-by-step process. You can’t look at the finish line when you’re behind or ahead, and you’ve got to take it one play at a time. You know, I think we’ve got to become more disciplined and not commit so many penalties and wind up behind the sticks. We don’t play well behind the sticks; we proved that the first game of the year (a loss at Woodruff).
“I’ve got to be sure I’ve got these guys more disciplined going into the Chapman game.”
Another AAA opponent for the Red Devils, Chapman is at Wilder Stadium on Friday and will be coming off a 56-0 loss at Boiling Springs. A powerful AAAA team, Daniel, comes to Wilder the week after that (the Lions won at home 31-14 over JL Mann in Friday action).
Before the game, the captains from the 1975 State Championship team met with the captains of the 2025 Red Devils, who are coming off winning the 2024 AA State Championship game. Players and coaches, and the families of those who had passed away, were recognized on Keith Richardson Field at halftime. A reception and program for the returning 1975 players and coaches on Saturday evening began in the CHS Commons and moved to the school’s auditorium. Clinton is almost guaranteed to have at least two more of this kind of celebration/reunion – Clinton Football won AAA State Championships in 1977 and 1978, under Coach Keith Richardson.
