OUT, BUT NOT DOWN

Clifton Cubs eliminated from Class 3A, DII postseason by City View in Bi-District, but take step forward by posting first winning record since 2019

While the desired Class 3A, Division II playoff win remained elusive, there’s no denying the Clifton Cubs took the storied football program yet another step back in the right direction during the 2024 Texas high school football season. But that didn’t make it any easier for the dozen seniors putting the pads on for the final time.

Despite the disappointing 53-0 loss to Wichita Falls City View in a Bi-District playoff game last Friday night at Mineral Wells High School’s Ram Stadium, the Cubs (6-5) closed out their best season in five years with their third straight trip to the postseason and the first winning record since 2019.

“No one ever wants to lose their last game,” Clifton football head coach Brent Finney said. “But the reality is that every team but one in the entire state will. Hats off to City View. They are a good football team and played very well.”

Featuring a balanced attack with superior team speed, the Mustangs (9-2) took advantage of a forced fumble in the first quarter to build an early 14-0 lead, and City View never looked back. After building a 28-0 lead going into halftime, the Mustangs tallied two more quick scores in the third quarter to put the game away.

With junior quarterback Malachi Williams tossing three touchdown strikes and senior running back Keshawn Perry rushing for two more touchdowns, the Mustangs galloped to 529 yards of total offense. In the meantime, the Cub offensive attack never got on track as City View limited Clifton only two yards of total offense on 46 plays from scrimmage.

“We knew going into this game it would be a very tough contest,” Finney said. “We were pretty banged up over the last two weeks, and it eventually caught up to us a little bit Friday night.

“We had a hard time blocking them all night and stopping the big play. Defensively, we did get them off the field a few times. But we were never able to get anything going offensively.”

For the Cubs, qualifying for the playoffs has always been the expectation every season as long as anyone can remember. Playing Texas high school football since 1919, the rich and storied Cub football program entered the 2024 season as one of the state’s newest members of the coveted all-time 600-win club.

As the Cubs close out of their 106th season playing Texas high school football, Clifton owns an all-time record of 610-394-25 for a .605 winning percentage with 38 trips to the postseason and 31 district championships.

“Our goal all year has been to be better than we were last year,” Finney said. “Just like week to week and day to day, our goal is to be better than we were yesterday, then better than last week. This team did that. They improved on the overall record, secured a winning season and a third straight playoff appearance.”

After graduating a huge senior class following the 2023 season, the Cubs will be losing another dozen to graduation this season — Jaystin Smith, Brody Baggett, Diego Rodriguez, Kyle Rogers, Joaquin De la Hoya, Tristan Hammond, Landon Knox, James Liardon, Kanin Bearden, Hunter Weir, Lenora Busby and Montana Brewer.

“We had some seniors step up into leadership roles, and lots of underclassmen step into starting positions,” Finney said. “Out of our 30 varsity players, 12 were seniors this season. And we are certainly going to miss them.”

But with 18 returning lettermen, the cupboards will not be empty for the Cubs in 2025. And certainly, the success the subvarsity teams enjoyed during the 2024 season provides hope for a promising future.

“We should have six or seven returning starters on each side of the ball next season,” Finney said. “And with the JV football team finishing the season at 7-3, the 8th grade football team finishing at 7-2, and the 7th grade football team finishing the year 8-1, we are very excited about the future of Cub football.”