Preview: Belton-Honea Path Bears vs. Clinton Red Devils
The Belton-Honea Path Bears have the luxury of staying home another week and will welcome the Clinton Red Devils at 7:30 p.m. on November 17th. Belton-Honea Path knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past 12 games -- so hopefully Clinton likes a good challenge.
Belton-Honea Path had already proven themselves in the regular season, and didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They took down Pendleton 44-28 on Friday. Given Belton-Honea Path's advantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina football rankings (they are ranked seventh, while Pendleton is ranked 57th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Justin Lathon went supernova for Belton-Honea Path, rushing for 177 yards and four touchdowns. Timothy Peter Bertoni did his part by putting the 'special' in special teams, booting in three field goals and five extra points.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Belton-Honea Path's defense and their three sacks. In that department, Exzavier Burns was the leader with two sacks.
Meanwhile, Clinton can now show off eight landslide victories after their most recent contest on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Broome 38-7 at home. Winning may never get old, but Clinton sure are getting used to it with their sixth in a row.
Clinton relied on the efforts of Tray Cook, who rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries, and Tushawan Richardson, who rushed for 18 yards and two touchdowns.
Belton-Honea Path's victory was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 12-0. They've been dominating during the games in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 31.69 points. As for Clinton, their win bumped their record up to 10-2.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's game: Belton-Honea Path has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 314.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Clinton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 254.8 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.
Belton-Honea Path lost to Clinton at home by a decisive 28-13 margin when the teams last played back in November of 2022. Will Belton-Honea Path have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
