Inside the high school communities that made Clemson

AUSTIN, Texas — When the first 12-team College Football Playoff bracket was revealed, Cade Klubnik took one look at the screen, rubbed his forehead and laughed. He knew immediately what it meant.

The Austin native would be returning to his hometown to lead No. 12 Clemson against No. 5 Texas on Saturday (4 p.m. ET, TNT/Max), and immediately, Texas high school football fans celebrated the rematch of one of the most hyped quarterback meetings in the state’s rich history.

In January 2021, Klubnik and his Austin Westlake team beat Quinn Ewers and Southlake Carroll 52-34 in the 6A Division II state championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington in a matchup of two elite prospects. Both were originally in the same class, ranked as the No. 1 and No. 2 quarterbacks in the state, with Ewers rated No. 1 nationally as well, earning one of the highest grades of all time for a recruit. Ultimately, Ewers would reclassify and skip his senior year of high school, heading to Ohio State before transferring to Texas.

Both played for legendary high school programs: Westlake has won four state championships while Southlake has eight. And both QBs played for Dodges — Todd Dodge and his son Riley — with Todd among the most venerated high school coaches in Texas history, whose influence on football in the state has led to this moment. The “Dodge Bowl,” as it was known, became the first time in history a father coached against his son for a state title in Texas.

“The thing I remember about the game is the first two possessions I went, ‘Damn, I shared too much information with my son through the years,” Todd said. “Because he knows exactly how to attack our defense.'”

In that game, Michael Taaffe caught passes from both quarterbacks. “He was like Travis Hunter for us through the playoffs,” Todd said of the two-way star who caught five passes from Klubnik against Southlake, and intercepted Ewers twice, earning defensive MVP honors. Fortunately for Ewers now, Taaffe is on his side as an All-American safety for the Longhorns.

For two teams that have never met in college football history, the Clemson-Texas game has ties that run deep.

“It feels a little weird watching on tape, watching Cade, knowing that he was my quarterback for a couple of years and now I’m playing against him,” Taaffe said this week. “It’s going to be so fun.”

Taaffe says they texted each other that they loved each other this week. Then he and Klubnik, who he said first played together in third or fourth grade, started getting ready to face off.

“He’s going to do whatever it takes,” Taaffe said. “I don’t assume that there’s going to be a lot of sliding out of Cade come Saturday. There’s probably not going to be a lot of stepping out of bounds, especially if he sees 16 [Taaffe’s number]. He’s going to try to impose his will on me. He’s definitely going to try to lower his shoulder on me and he’s going to tell me about it too. I’m going to be ready for that and … I’m going to be ready to lower my shoulder on him.”

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Klubnik will lead the Tigers into Austin against Texas on Saturday. David Jensen/Getty ImagesTHE FIRST ON-CAMPUS playoff game in FBS history in Texas featuring two of the state’s biggest quarterback prospects is a real conundrum for Brad Thomas, the lead pastor at Austin Ridge Church. High school football is often referred to as a religion in Texas, something Thomas is currently navigating.Thomas, a South Carolina native and a Clemson grad, went to seminary in Dallas, met his wife Courtney in Texas and stayed. He’s been in Austin for 20 years now. The Klubnik family has been members of his church the entire time, and Ewers has attended since he’s been in Austin. Thomas was introduced to Ewers in the church foyer for the first time by Klubnik.”This is probably the worst-case scenario for me as a pastor of a church that mainly consists of UT people,” Thomas joked. “If Clemson wins the game, I probably need to find a job. If we lose the game, we probably need to find a job.”Klubnik, meanwhile, will be playing against six former Westlake players on the Texas roster, acknowledging that it’ll be strange to land at the Austin airport and bus over to a hotel in his hometown as a visitor. He joked this week that he heard from so many people it would’ve been nice to have a flip phone to cut down on the distractions but was excited about the rematch with his old friend.”Quinn and I go way back,” Klubnik said. “We played each other in seventh grade and 7-on-7 and stuff. And then met my junior year in the state championship game, and it was definitely a very high-profile game.”The two even hung out in California at the Elite 11 quarterback competition when they were in high school, with both Dodges going to support their stars and the families having dinner together.”It’s definitely cool for sure,” Ewers said this week. “Me and Cade have a good relationship and he’s a cool dude and it is definitely cool to get to play each other again. It’s come full circle and whatnot.”Todd Dodge said the two quarterbacks are different, each with his own style.”They’re probably about as opposite of personalities as you’ll ever get,” he said. “Cade is pretty high-strung and a rah-rah leader kind of guy, getting his team fired up. Quinn’s kind of Cool Hand Luke. Their teams need both of those things.”Klubnik’s parents went to Texas A&M but said Cade didn’t grow up with the rivalry since it was on hiatus, so any sense of playing Texas is more of hometown excitement than any animosity.With Texas focused on Ewers, Dodge said the Aggies were the ones who were surprisingly off the radar, simply because Jimbo Fisher didn’t seem interested.”If anybody missed out on Cade Klubnik in the state of Texas, it was Texas A&M,” Dodge said. “They just didn’t show any interest. Everybody else in the country did, but they didn’t.”So Texas coach Steve Sarkisian mentioned being surprised when Klubnik seemed focused on Clemson during recruiting.”Big fan of Cade,” Sarkisian said. “[But] he always had a dream of going to Clemson.”Thomas, who proudly preached in an orange suit after Clemson won national championship games, hopes he can take a little credit.”We’ve had about 20 to 25 kids from Austin Ridge go to Clemson in the last, I’d say six years, and many of the athletes, I really feel like I should be [getting] a kickback or something. I’ve been doing subliminal messaging for about 18 years.”Thomas knows of rivalries. His daughter Lydia graduated from Texas. Courtney graduated from Oklahoma. The Thomas family has a flagpole outside their house with Clemson, Texas and OU flags on it, stacked in order of who’s riding the highest at the moment. He’s hoping Clemson orange will be waving over burnt orange in the hierarchy after this weekend.”I’m excited to watch these kids play,” Thomas said. “I grew up near Clemson and so that’s just been part of my whole life. I’m totally excited about this game and I’m going to be wearing my Clemson garb surrounded by Horns.”EVEN THE COACHES have shared experiences with the quarterbacks. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney recalled his only visit to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium this week. It was alongside Sarkisian watching Westlake and Klubnik beat Austin Vandegrift 70-7 in a playoff quarterfinal on campus at Texas.”The only time I’ve been at a game at this stadium, I actually stood in the end zone with Sark and watched Cade play,” Swinney said.That was a meaningful game for Todd Dodge, a former Longhorns quarterback, as well.”It’s actually the first time I’d ever got to coach at the place that I played at,” he said. “Cade had a big game, but I’ll never forget it was the first time Dabo had seen him play in person.”Todd Dodge became the first Texas high school football player to throw for more than 3,000 yards in 1980 before playing for Texas and becoming a legendary high school coach with his fingerprints all over this matchup.From 2000 to 2002, he went 19-10 in the suburbs of Dallas-Fort Worth at Southlake before he turned it into a machine. From 2002 to 2006, the Carroll Dragons went 79-1, with only a 16-15 loss to Katy in the 2003 state championship game. He coached stars like Alabama’s Greg McElroy, Missouri’s Chase Daniel and passed along plenty to his son, Riley, who committed to Texas, but followed Todd when he took the job at North Texas and played there.”He’s a legend,” Cade’s mom, Kim Klubnik, said. “He’s a walking, living legend and his son is too.”Garrett Riley, Klubnik’s current offensive coordinator, who was the offensive coordinator at SMU at the time of the Westlake-Southlake title game nearby at AT&T Stadium, said he remembers the anticipation around the Ewers-Klubnik heavyweight fight.”Knowing everybody’s story and how they were brought up and the high schools that they went to, I just have a deep appreciation for their story, really both of them,” he said. “We weren’t really in the mix for ’em at that time. I remember when the two Dodges played each other. I remember watching the game on TV, a lot of anticipation. I was certainly tuned in to watch the father-son battle. And oh, by the way, you got these two highly touted elite quarterbacks leading the charge for both teams.”Riley, who grew up in West Texas, said the Dodge influence and the Southlake mystique — they all dye their hair blonde for the playoffs as a sign of team unity — was a big part of his coaching upbringing too.”I remember being in little ol’ Muleshoe, watching Fox Sports Southwest and watching the state championship games on TV and seeing the bleached hair and them throwing the ball all over the yard. It was awesome. Those quarterbacks were always really good, so I remember that vividly.”So it’ll be a big game for Riley too. And he knows his quarterback is going to be soaking it all in.”Cade may know 60 percent of the crowd that’s going to be there that night,” Riley said. “It’ll be a pretty special evening for him.”Andrew Mukuba played for three years at Clemson before transferring to Texas. He’s still friends with Klubnik. Dale Zanine-Imagn ImagesWHEN THE PAIRING was first announced, Swinney called the game the “Mukuba Bowl.”Texas safety Andrew Mukuba, an Austin native who played for three years at Clemson before transferring back home, said he and Klubnik were “locker buddies” when they were on the same team.

“The only two guys from Austin, Texas, so we clicked a little bit,” Mukuba said, who added that his former teammates have been “kind of talking crazy,” in text messages.

“It’s good to go through that with them,” Mukuba said. “I was on the same side with them at one point. But it’s going to be exciting now.”

Taaffe said Mukuba’s story can’t be overlooked among the quarterbacks. The big hitter who knocked Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton‘s helmet off in the SEC championship game is locked in.

“There’s so many storylines about Quinn, about Cade, about myself, but Andrew, I mean those are all his guys,” Taaffe said. “He knows every single one of them because I could be mistaken, but I don’t think Clemson gets people out of the portal. Literally he knows every single guy from that team. … It’s going to be an interesting game for him, but he’s definitely ready. I mean, he’s going the extra mile to be ready for this game and he’s going to do what he does.”

But Taaffe has his own motivations. Most notably, playing against Klubnik.

Taaffe said he and Klubnik forged a bond during COVID-19, with Taaffe even working with his QB to learn the offense.

Taaffe also worked out for two hours for more than 100 straight days with Mukuba and Jahdae Barron, this year’s Thorpe Award winner, all Austin DBs who now star together on the nation’s top-ranked pass defense. Then, he would spend time learning the details of the passing game with Klubnik.

“I had 22 hours of the day left, and me and Cade were throwing the ball, running routes and figuring out every single avenue how to win the state championship,” Taaffe said. “That’s how me and Cade kind of took off. We had nothing to do but become best friends because we were trying to go win a state championship.”

He said he knows Klubnik’s tendencies. But he said Klubnik knows his too.

“He’s going to probably show me one thing that they’ve done on film a hundred times and it’s going to be the opposite,” he said. But he’s not conflicted about what he needs to do.

“I’m a competitor no matter who it is,” Taaffe said. “My job is to take my opponent’s soul. That’s what I try to do, no matter if it’s my best friend or the guy that I hate the most on this planet.”

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TOD AND KIM Klubnik, who retired when Cade went to college and bought an RV to follow Clemson to every game, have made plenty of friends out that way. They’ve spent the week handling recommendations for Austin BBQ or Mexican restaurants. “One thing that’s been really sweet is how kind our Longhorn friends have been to us this week, offering to help get tickets or whatever we need,” Kim said. “They’ve just been really kind and we really, really appreciate our Longhorn friends right now.”

Thomas is excited to see the two quarterbacks play on a giant stage after enduring their share of criticism over the past couple of seasons.

“People were wanting Cade to get in the portal after his sophomore year. They expected Cade to be Trevor Lawrence. Well, he’s not Trevor Lawrence,” Thomas said. “People want Quinn to leave every game. They expect everybody to be Colt McCoy or Vince [Young]. The Texas fans are calling for Arch to play. I’ve watched both of these kids handle this with such grace and such patience and perseverance. So I think this is also an opportunity for these two kids to be on the same field and just be who they are, which is really cool.”

Both Dodges have said Texas’ grueling high school playoff schedule — the only state where teams play up to a 16-game season — and the attention that comes with being a star in their programs have prepared them for this moment.

“I’d be more shocked if they weren’t in these types of games in their college career,” Riley Dodge told Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. “Both battled through adversity and doubters. They both went to work and handled their day-to-day and came out better for it. Playing in big programs under a spotlight set them up for success.”

They’re both extremely close to their quarterbacks and say they are among the finest the state has ever produced.

“Riley and Quinn have a tremendous relationship,” Todd Dodge said. “They keep in touch in the same way I do with Cade. Those two quarterbacks, what a matchup and what great players, I’m so proud of both of them as they lead their teams into the college playoffs.”

Still, like Taaffe, he’s got to watch Klubnik going up against his Longhorns.

“Yeah, there’ll be some mixed emotions going this week,” Todd said. “But the beautiful thing is how much fun it’s going to be.”