Cascade defense stands out in homecoming win

Mt. Pleasant quarterback Devan Nance (8) is snowed under by Cascade defenders Michael Martin (37), Caleb Chavis (top), Anthony Smith (87) and Kyle Saylor (bottom) on Friday night. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Cascade outside linebacker Christian Edmondson set the tone early, scooping up a fumble on Mt. Pleasant's opening possession and racing 28 yards to the end zone just 87 seconds in.

"When you win the turnover battle and get a defensive touchdown, very seldom do you see a team lose after that," said Cascade coach Kenny Parker, whose team broke a three-game losing streak to the Tigers.

Mt. Pleasant had their fair share of opportunities to capture takeaways as well but let interceptions bounce off their chests and fumbles squirt from their grasp, including a goal-line miscue that left the pigskin popping around the turf when the Champs were trying to hammer in a touchdown late in the third quarter. Cascade recovered that one and kicked a field goal the next play.

"We had several (potential interceptions) hit us in the hands back there in the secondary," Mt. Pleasant coach Walt Smith said. "They got the turnovers, and we didn't.

"We've just got to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We've got to play more consistent on defense."

Both teams sought some momentum following 1-3 starts to their regular season.

Cascade's final five games are all versus District 9-A opponents, and they needed this one against a non-district foe to gain some confidence and work some rust off after losing 57-14 to South Pittsburg two weeks ago and being stuck inside much of the bye week with all the rainfall.

"We played well, but we know we can play better," said Parker, who noted how his team missed out on additional scoring opportunities. "By leaving what we left on the field, we know we've got more in us than what we showed. That's the good and the bad. The good is that we got the win and didn't get anybody hurt. But, the bad is we've got to brush up on some of these mistakes."

The Champion offense didn't take the field until after eight minutes elapsed. After Edmondson's scoop-and-score, the Tigers got their ground game going.

On its second series, Mt. Pleasant (1-4) decided to pound it between the tackles, running the ball on 12 straight plays. Jerrell Houston's 6-yard touchdown run capped the drive and got them on the board. Tristen Tisby plunged into the end zone for the two-point the conversion to give the Tigers their only lead of the night 8-7.

"I thought we could run the ball a little bit on them, you know mix 'em around," Smith said. "We kind of went unbalanced a little bit and they didn't shift. We kind of hurt them with that. Then they did a good job of adjusting to that and took that away from us."

Champion safety Gerald 'Happy' Johnson (7) skies to come up with an interception in front of Mt. Pleasant's Kaleb Vandygriff (11) late in the second quarter. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Cascade (2-3) didn't take long to counter with Ricky Hord's kickoff return taking the initial line of scrimmage all the way to the Tiger 28-yard line. Three plays later Matt Henderson tripped to paydirt from 26 yards out. Jared Carkuff hit Henderson in the flat for the conversion and a 15-8 lead.

The Champs made some adjustments along their defensive front for Mt. Pleasant's next series and allowed but 2 yards to force a three-and-out.

Gerald "Happy" Johnson fielded a booming punt by Dylan McNeece and carried it up to his own 49. Cascade took full advantage yet again as Carkuff rolled left and lofted a ball into the back of the end zone to a leaping Tyler Bowen for a 13-yard scoring strike.

Johnson and Hord intercepted quarterback Devan Nance the final two Tiger possessions of the half to keep the score 22-8 with the bands ready to entertain on the saturated surface. Hord returned his pick 71 yards for a TD but had it called back due to an illegal block in the back.

"We felt like we left four scores on the field," Parker said. "I didn't do a good job coaching; I'll just be honest with you. The kids played a heck of a game. The coaches did a heck of a job. I did not do a good job of coaching this game tonight."

Both teams put up points coming out of the gates in the third quarter.

Less than two minutes into the period, Carkuff hit tight end Michael Martin for a TD much the same way he did Bowen.

A 39-yard run by Mt. Pleasant's Luke Williams set up a Tisby 5-yard score. Aaron Chapman's extra point slimmed their deficit to 29-15 with 8:29 to go in the third.

Cascade held the Tigers to a total of 59 yards from then on to help seal the deal.

"(The Tigers) are very athletic, but there are 11 men playing this game and that's what makes it so hard. That's the challenge of football. You've got 11 people that's got to play as one. Three people's not going to win a game. Eight people's not going to win a game. It's all 11 men playing as one," Parker said.

With a short field to work with and 8:08 remaining, the Orange and Black needed but four plays to put up their final points. Henderson scored on a 4-yard run and Molder booted his fourth PAT just 1:14 later.

"I thought we were rusty," Parker said. "You probably didn't see from the stands, but we had a lot of kids with busted assignments. We had kids that weren't getting on this specific team and weren't getting on the field this time and that time. Those kind of things hurt because it took us out of our rhythm."

The visitors won the rushing battle, piling up 203 yards on 36 carries. Cascade ran for 172 on 33 attempts, including Henderson toting it 11 times for 78 yards.

Carkuff was 10-for-16 passing for 98 yards.

Nance completed 8-of-18 passes for 74 yards. Bowen's interception with 5:24 left in the game was Cascade's third pick.

Michael Martin paced the Champs defensively with 14 tackles. Edmondson had seven stops.

Parker said his team executed its game plan and gave plentiful credit to defensive coordinator Brent Richardson and offensive coordinator Maurice Carkuff.

Cascade heads to Eagleville for a key District 9-A matchup on Friday.

"We've played five tough teams, but we've still got five tough teams left to go," Parker said. "Every one of these games from here on out are double-digit games. They all have playoff implications on them. We can't take one week off. We've got to be ready to play."