Question marks surround Cascade

Jacob Carkuff is a three-year starter at quarterback for Cascade. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Evidence is in the fresh tags, shiny numbers and lack of holes.

Problem is, there's an awful lot of them.

When football players graduate from Cascade, coach Kenny Parker allows them to take their practice top and a game jersey with them. If it takes a couple boxes of new uniforms to replace those given away, the Champions could be in for a long season.

Version 2007 of Cascade football went 10-2, shared the Region 5-A title and earned a trip to the second round of the state playoffs. It was arguably the best team in program history.

Now, after watching 17 seniors walk out the door, the Orange and Black must reload.

"You don't ever know what you don't have till you don't have it no more and you don't miss them till you don't have them," said Parker, who enters his 13th season as head coach. "Why you're coaching them you're thinking that they ought to be doing better but they were a pretty special class. They've set the expectations high for all these guys behind them.

"You know every four years you're going to have to roll them over. So, we'll just have to roll them over."

Experienced QB

Having a three-year starter at quarterback is a great place to start the ball rolling.

All-Region 5-A signalcaller Jacob Carkuff doesn't show an ounce of worry when asked to pull out the crystal ball. Despite being a rail-thin 6-foot-1, 150-pounder, the senior is as tough as nails and doesn't shy away from hits, let alone questions about what's left at Cascade.

In fact, he's ready to step up his game whether it's on offense, defense or as a leader.

"Now in the locker room they're kind of looking at me to say something," said Carkuff, who admits he's looking to be more vocal with his teammates.

In total, Cascade returns four offensive starters and three defensive starters. Thus, the faces and numbers in the huddles will get a facelift.

"It's really weird. It took me a while to get used to," Carkuff said.

Returning to the backfield with Carkuff is tailback Matt Henderson. The junior carried the ball 134 times for 933 yards and 11 touchdown en route to being named first-team all-region in '07.

Up front, senior Matt Cooper slides inside from tackle to quick guard. Michael Martin returns to man tight end duties.

On the line

A majority of the question marks center around the offensive and defensive lines.

Eric Ross, Anthony McPheron, Taylor McAnally and Drew Thomas are all upperclassmen but still very green when it comes to varsity action on the O-line.

"I expect the same out of them that I expected out of those other guys -- execute their assignments, work hard and to finish," said Parker, a former lineman himself. "Just because they don't have the experience, doesn't mean that I don't have the expectations for them."

If the hogs can give Henderson the occasional seam or Carkuff time to find speedsters Ricky Hord and Gerald "Happy" Johnson, then the scoreboard is in for consistent adjustments.

"We've got to do what we do good," Parker said of his Wing-T offense. "If we do that then we can expand on it, but we can't put a whole lot of things in and then halfway do them."

Depth issues

For the first time in a few years, over half the starters on offense are slated to start out on defense as well. The roster sits at 50, but 20 of those names are freshmen.

Therefore, depth could be an issue until some of the young bucks prove themselves at practice.

"Yeah, we'll have kids that play on both sides of the ball, but we'll rest them also," Parker said. "I'm a firm believer in the fact that you've got to be rested. The more you can substitute, not only will you be rested in this game, but you'll be rested in weeks 7, 8, 9 and 10 and you don't get as much wear and tear."

Few players in the Region 5 are more valuable to their team than Carkuff, but he noted that he'll be more than willing to log some time in the secondary if the situation calls for it.

"I am a senior and it's up to me too," he said. "I'm not going to let them not play me. It's my senior year and I'm going to try and do what I can to win.

"We had depth last year and everything, but we've just got to suck it up. We've got to be in shape. We're not as big as we were last year. We've got to be fast on defense and on offense."

Getting defensive

The 'D' continues their transformation to a base 3-3-5 under new defensive coordinator Brent Richardson, who replaces Jeremy Austin after he left to take a similar position in Trenton, Ga.

"The kids are enjoying (the 3-3-5)," Parker said. "As long as they're enjoying it, they're working hard. We're learning and they're learning. We've tinkered with it here and tinkered with it there. You can't just line up in one defense. You've got to be multi-functional."

Defensive end Tyler Carter and linebacker Marcus McBee must make plays when they present themselves as two of the more dependable athletes playing near the line of scrimmage.

Few quarterbacks got the ball over the top of safety Johnson last season and Hord may be the best cornerback in the region.

Gone from placekicking and punting duties is Region Special Teams Player of the Year MoMo Stewart. Two juniors will take his place. Josh Molder will handle the kicking, while Martin will be the punter.

"Josh's been hitting the ball well," Parker said. "He's been doing this for two years. This is his time."

Between the vast number of players competing in varsity for the first time, a new coordinator and changes in scheme, don't expect a series of blowouts in Cascade's favor in the earlygoing.

"We're definitely not going to peak early this year," Parker said.

Raider rivalry

First up on the schedule yet again is non-region foe Moore County. The rivals lock horns in Lynchburg on Friday night at 7.

The Raiders got hot at the end of last season, which got head coach Thomas McDaniel just enough credit to help him get a job at Class 5A's Oakland. Former Tullahoma assistant Steve Matthews took over, and his first time out did not go as planned with a 30-0 loss at Eagleville in Week 0.

Both teams are looking for some momentum heading into the region schedule.

"They'll be hungry," Parker said. "This is a game where their daddies and our kids' daddies work together and they see each other at Thanksgiving and Christmas. There's a lot of kids related here and there.

"It's always a battle between Moore County and Cascade. The records don't mean anything. Past history don't mean anything."

The Raiders run a Pro-I offense and show multiple looks on defense.

Much like the Champs, they lost a large number of seniors off last year's squad.

"When you look at us, we returned a lot of skill and lost a lot of linemen. They return a lot of linemen and lost a lot of skill," Parker said.

Moore County doesn't have as much team speed as they've had in recent years. So, they'll try the short passing game or something between the tackles to move the pigskin.

Cascade has taken the last two meetings by a combined score of 71-7.

"No matter what happened, we're 0-0 this week," Parker said. "We haven't proven anything yet. What happened last year happened last year. What happened the year before that happened the year before that.

"When you dwell on the past, you're going to get beaten in the future."