CLEARING THE SLATE

Coming off string of near misses, Class 3A, DII Clifton Cubs open District 13-3A, DII play on the road at Rogers Friday

ROGERS – After playing a gauntlet of non-district opponents and playing well enough to win each game, the Clifton Cubs get a fresh start after an open week by opening District 13-3A, Division II competition by facing the Rogers Eagles on the road at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Despite opening the 2022 Texas high school football season with an exciting 20-12 victory over the Merkel Badgers to match last season win total, the Cubs (1-4) have since come up short four consecutive times despite valiant second half efforts.

In the meantime, the Eagles (3-2) have dropped back-to-back road games against Palmer, 36-23, and Johnson City, 23-20, after opening the season with three straight wins.

“Rogers is a good football team,” Clifton first-year head coach Brent Finney said. “They have a good quarterback and some big linemen. They are very solid on defense as well.”

Offensively, the Cubs have shown the potential to have a balanced attack running and throwing the ball, but lack of consistency and untimely penalties have slowed the scoring production.

Junior fullback Riley Finney leads the Cubs in rushing with 409 yards and six touchdowns, followed by junior Parker Tunnell with 351 yards and a score. Senior quarterback Trent Guinn has completed 24 of 56 passes for 344 yards and a touchdown, hooking up with primary target junior Andres Devora 10 times for 212 yards and a touchdown.

“We have had a few kids banged up on the offensive line,” Finney said. “So hopefully, we can get a couple kids back and healthy.”

Defensively, the Cubs have shown the ability to slow down, if not shut down, any opponent they have faced. But big plays have proved to be the downfall during the non-district schedule. Finney leads Clifton with 46 tackles, followed by senior Peyten Urbanovsky with 33, senior Carter Tunnell with 32, along with seniors Larrett Thomas and Makail Brandenberger with 29 each.

“Our defense has played well all year,” Finney said. “We have consistently faced teams that are bigger than us on both sides of the ball, and our kids have fought and been very competitive.”

Going into the open week, Finney welcomed the opportunity to regroup and heal some injuries before starting district play.

“We focused on ourselves and tried to fix some things that we have seen over the last few weeks,” Finney said. “Our non-district schedule has prepared us well for what we will see in district.

“Having a week to rest and heal some kids up to begin working on Rogers is nice with open week being at the beginning of district. Rogers has a good football team, so it will be a tough first district game.”

But Rogers will just be the beginning of what will be a tough district battle that includes the ninth-ranked Lexington Eagles (5-0), Buffalo Bison (2-3), Florence Buffaloes (1-3) and Elkhart Elks (1-4).

“Hopefully, we can take that experience moving into district play,” Finney said. “Ultimately, these are the only games that matter in determining who makes the playoffs.”