Clinton’s 35-25 win Friday night over a tough-as-nails Saluda team sets up a this-coming Friday rematch of last season’s AA Upper State Championship contest against Fairfield-Central.
The Griffins punched their ticket to travel to Wilder Stadium, again, with an impressive 36-0 win over highly regarded Andrew Jackson. It was not nearly so easy a win for Clinton.
In fact, the game against Saluda really wasn’t decided until about a minute and a half left to play on Richardson Field, when an interception by Clinton senior Chris Boyd in the Devils’ own endzone, and a run by Javen Cook into Saluda territory, and kneel-downs by Owen Glenn in the victory formation gave Clinton the 10-point, come from behind win, the Red Devils 9th of the season.
Meanwhile, Saluda’s 6-6 record is no indication of how tough an opponent this was for Clinton. The Tigers compete in one of the state’s toughest regions with Strom Thurmond, Batesburg-Leesville and Ninety Six.
The Tigers amassed 208 yards rushing against the Red Devils and torched the Clinton secondary for an additional 230 yards through the air (14 completions in 25 attempts). In fact, Saluda outmatched Clinton offensively, 438 yards to 409 yards. The Red Devils’ Javen Cook needed every one of his 20 carries for 236 yards and 4 touchdowns to pace the Red Devil offense against the Tigers’ defense.
Saluda led 25-21 after a scoring pass with 7 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.
Clinton Football Head Coach Corey Fountain asked Red Devil Nation to “come earlier and cheer louder” in the upcoming game against Fairfield-Central.
“They play fast, and they will be playing with a chip on their shoulder,” Fountain said of Fairfield-Central, which lost 32-21 in Wilder Stadium in last season’s Upper State Championship game, as Clinton went on to win the AA State Championship.
The 9-3 Griffins would like nothing more than to get revenge, and end Clinton’s goal of winning a 3rd state championship of the 2000s (2009 and 2024).
As for the Red Devils, Fountain said the team is “banged up” and would start its healing with treatment on Saturday, then film study on Sunday, and its normal routine of preparation Monday – Thursday.
The last 4 teams standing now in AA Upper State, after Friday’s results, are Clinton, Fairfield-Central, Chester and Strom Thurmond.
After Saluda took that late 3rd quarter lead, Cook scored on the first play of the 4th quarter. Saluda converted a 3rd and 13 to the Clinton 44, but on a 4th and 11 with 9:09 left to play, the Red Devil defense held. Cook zoomed to the Saluda 6 and then broke into the end zone with 8:36 left to play for the 10-point Clinton lead.
Saluda was not done.
The Tigers – who were 9-2 last season, 7-4 in 2023, 11-3 in 2022, and State Champions in 2019 with a 12-2 mark – recovered a fumble at the Clinton 26. A pass completion pushed the ball to the Clinton 7 with 2 minutes left to play. A bad snap to the quarterback caused a scramble play and Saluda converted that into a scoring pass, called back by an illegal procedure penalty. The Tigers’ next pass into the Clinton end zone was intercepted.
In this slugfest, the two teams combined for 22 penalty flags.
Clinton is now carrying a 6-game winning streak. This was the first time these two teams had played since Nov. 16, 1973 (a 14-13 Clinton win).
The upcoming opponent, Fairfield Central, is 9-3 on the season 3-1 in their region for 1st place (AA Region 3). They have defeated Union County, CA Johnson, Lewisville, Andrew Jackson twice, Mid-Carolina, Eay Claire, Columbia, and Chesnee. They have lost to Ridge View (8-3 in 5A), Newberry, and Chester. Coach Fountain said Red Devil fans will see an opponent with a very athletic and dynamic quarterback, receivers who can go get the football, and an explosve running back.
“We feed off the crowd,” Fountain said during the Saturday Morning Rewind show, now in its 20th season on WPCC AM-FM in Clinton. “We need to make it as hostile as possible so they can’t hear; we need to tighten the screws. We need to play physical, fast, clean football.”
Remember, last season his Clinton-Fairfield Central matchup for the Upper State title was the coldest game of the season - this Friday the low temp is expected to be 57 degrees.
“Our goal always to play in December,” Fountain said. “(Playing in the week of) Thanksgiving is great, but you want to be playing in December.”
