FRIDAY SPORTS: Furman to face Gamecocks in 2014

A clash against South Carolina highlights defending So-Con champion Furman’s 12-game 2014 football schedule, which was released Thursday by director of athletics Gary Clark. Furman will play South Carolina on Oct. 18 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia in the 49th meeting in a series that dates from 1892.The full 2014 Paladin schedule can be viewed online at furmanpaladins.com.

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Friday night’s high school basketball schedule includes Walhalla hosting Emerald, Seneca traveling to Palmetto and West-Oak on the road at Belton Honea path. Girl’s games start at 6:00 PM.

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The Clemson men’s basketball team travels to Tallahassee to face Florida State in ACC play Saturday. Tip off from the Tucker Center is set for 3:05 PM.

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Clemson football has announced Shrine Bowl wide receiver Hunter Renfrow of Socastee will accept a walk-on offer to join the Tiger program. Renfrow opted for Clemson over a full scholarship offer from Appalachian State.

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The NFL said Thursday that the number of concussions in the league were down 13 percent from 2012 to 2013, attributing the drop to its efforts to better protect players’ heads. Using information from team doctors during preseason and regular-season practices and games, the NFL also said there was a 23 percent decrease over the past two seasons in the number of concussions caused by helmet-to-helmet contact. At the same time, Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior VP of health and safety policy, “there’s still more to do.” Some players have expressed concern that decreasing hits to the head could lead to more low hits and more knee injuries, but Miller said the injury stats for the past three years didn’t show an increase in damaged knee ligaments.

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NASCAR announced Thursday that it’s changing the format of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship to a winner-take-all elimination system. The field will be expanded from 12 to 16 drivers, and then whittled down to a final four through eliminations after every three races of the 10-race Chase. The remaining four drivers will go into the season finale with an equal chance to win the championship, with the first one to cross the finish line crowned Sprint Cup champion.