Brady Shule remembers the last time Clifton Central defeated Momence, in 2022, during his freshman year. The senior signal-caller for the Comets also remembers how the last two years of the Comahawk rivalry went down.

“We beat them my freshman year, and ever since then, we’ve gotten absolutely killed,” Shule said.

The tables turned Friday night at Bill Burrell Field, as Shule threw for six touchdowns and 254 yards in the Comets’ wire-to-wire 48-14 victory over Momence. The Comahawk trophy is heading back to Clifton Central.

“We [have] got so many juniors and seniors that have struggled through the last couple of years (against Momence),” Clifton Central head coach Jeff Perzee said. “They earned this, they deserve this. I’m just so happy for them.”

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Clifton Central's Brady Shule, left, looks to hand off to Evan Cox in a game against Momence on Friday, September 5, 2025. (Nicholas Holstein for Shaw Local)

The Comets used a nearly five-minute drive to get on the board first. Shule found fellow senior Evan Cox eight yards out to give Clifton Central a 7-0 lead. They would not waste time setting the tone, as junior Bryce Denault recovered an onside kick to give the Comets plus field position.

Momence sophomore Jayden Dau would end up intercepting Shule in that drive, but the aggressive tone was already set. The Comets would continue to impose that aggressiveness defensively the entire night.

Momence senior quarterback Erick Castillo had a tough time finding a rhythm offensively. He was 8 for 18 in the air for 97 yards, three interceptions, and a touchdown. The Comets had countless pressures, including a sack by junior Jake Thompson.

“We knew that they probably couldn’t handle our pressure, so we were sending pressure to try to contain them,” Perzee said. “Coach [Matt] Sertich and all of our coaches, we’re just pushing the envelope with aggressiveness, and that’s what we’re going to live and die by, and tonight we did pretty well.”

While the first quarter only featured that one score, and the second quarter provided more fireworks. Midway through, Shule found junior Derek Meier on a slant route that was taken 34-yards into the endzone, and the Comets led 14-0.

Then on the ensuing drive, Castillo threw an interception to Thompson, who jumped a bubble screen as a defensive lineman and ran in a 41-yard touchdown to make it 21-0 Comets.

“I’m excited for anyone who gets a pick-six, but when a big lineman does, that’s just awesome,” Perzee said.

The lead would increase to 28-0 after Shule found Meier again, this time on a seam route, for a 42-yard score. Momence would answer at the buzzer to end the half when Castillo found classmate Eddie Ferreira to make it 28-8 Comets at halftime.

The Comets would continue to pour it on in the second half, as Shule threw for three more touchdowns – two to Neveu and one to junior Andrew Rohling – for 20 unanswered points. Momence’s lone score in the half came at the buzzer in the fourth quarter, where senior Dakota Lewke rushed in the endzone 13-yards out.

It’s been a dream start to the season for the Comets. They receive the Comahawk trophy and remain unblemished at 2-0.

“Our goals are going to continue to grow,” Perzee said. “Because I think we have a pretty special team, a pretty special group, let’s see what we can do.”

Momence, on the other hand, has struggled in its first two weeks of the season, falling to 0-2. Regardless of the struggles, the’ve continued to fight as they sit winless through two weeks for the first time since 2022, the last time they missed the playoffs.

“We knew they were a good team, so I think just taking away that our kids didn’t give up,” Momence coach Wayne Walker said. “We still got kids out there fighting, so that’s something we take away.”