CROWNING STRONG START

Winning on Homecoming Night, the Class 3A, DII Clifton Cubs crush Blooming Grove for second best start in 20 years, open week before District 5-3A, DII play

Consider it mission accomplished for the first half of the 2025 Texas high school football season as the Class 3A, Division II Clifton Cubs wrapped up their non-district schedule last Friday night. For the first time since 2018 and only the second time in over 20 years, the Cubs opened the season by winning as many as four of their first five games.

And certainly, the Cubs gave the Homecoming Night crowd plenty to cheer about with a dominating performance as Clifton bounced back from their first loss to light up the scoreboard on the way to a commanding 35-6 victory over the winless Blooming Grove Lions at Cub Stadium.

“We’re very proud of how our kids battled through a little sloppy start to finish off the non-district season,” Clifton football head coach Brent Finney said. “It is always good to win at home. And to be able to keep the home win streak alive on homecoming was awesome.

“We have a great coaching staff that does a wonderful job having our kids prepared to play. Our JV is also 4-1, and they do a good job giving us a good look in practice.”

Junior quarterback Jackson Ritz rushed for two touchdowns and threw a scoring strike as the Clifton offensive attack accumulated a season-high 35 points and 351 yards of total offense. Working to establish the running game against a large defensive front, Jackson rushed for 145 yards on 11 carries, while senior running back finished with 100 yards on 10 totes.

Also throwing the ball effectively, Jackson completed seven of 11 passes for 60 yards, connecting with junior Kaleb Wyly two for 31 yards and a score, as well as New three times for 16 yards.

“Being able to run the ball well offensively and stop the run defensively is usually a good combination for a victory,” Finney said. “Being able to get a couple quick scores in the second quarter after a slow start was huge. We were happy with our balance offensively with two over a hundred rushing and getting a touchdown in the air.”

Although Blooming Grove managed to move the ball on the ground and in the air at times, the Cub defense came up with three turnovers and key stops to limit the Lions to only one score.

While senior Zach Sedberry came up with three turnovers by pulling down two interceptions and grabbed a fumble, Ritz led Clifton with 12 tackles, followed by junior Eduardo Garcia with seven, senior Jared Ramirez with six, as well as Wyly and junior Jose Arcos with five each.

This week, the Cubs (4-1) will get an open date in the schedule before opening District 5-3A, DII competition on the road at the Eastland Mavericks (0-5) Oct. 10.

“Now, heading into open week, we can back off the banging a little bit and focus on a few things,” Finney said. “It’s an opportunity to really slow down and get back to a few fundamental things that we need to polish up. We will start working on Eastland and be ready to start the district season on the road.”