'Pistol' keeps Cascade unbeaten in district

Eagleville quarterback Will Duke barely gets off a pass while pressured by Cascade defenders Caleb Chavis, Travis Madgett (12) and Jordan Lacey (45). (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

EAGLEVILLE -- Cascade pulled out its "pistol" and shot down the Eagleville Eagles in a dominant 42-7 win Friday night in District 9-A action.

Coaches weren't pleased with the lack of offensive production through the first five games of the season, so the Champions changed their offense from a base Wing-T to the Pistol formation, which means they took the fullback off the field and put the tailback directly behind the quarterback.

The result meant Cascade getting more of their athletes on the field and a season-high in total offense of 405 yards.

"I like (the Pistol); I thought our kids responded well to it," Cascade coach Kenny Parker said. "We had a good Monday practice, and it just carried on."

The Orange and Black aerial attack gained yardage in chunks. Quarterback Jared Carkuff completed 13-of-19 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Wide receiver Tyler Bowen had four receptions for 105 yards with two TDs in the first half alone.

"We did some things different this week than we've done in the past because we felt like we had a little better skill than they did," Parker said.

Eagleville coach Steve Carson tipped his hat to Cascade's playmakers but admitted the scheme didn't necessarily catch his team by total surprise.

"(The Pistol)'s not anything that we've never seen," he said. "A lot of the stuff they did is exactly what we thought they were going to do. The Pistol was, initially, a little wrinkle in there, but we've seen it several times.

Eagleville quarterback Will Duke gets pressured by Cascade defenders Caleb Chavis (4) and Travis Madgett (12). (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

"They've got good players and good players make good plays. They came out and took it to us. When we had opportunities to make plays, it wasn't always us shooting ourselves in the foot. They stepped up and made plays when they had to. I give them credit them for that."

Forcing defenders out of the box left the Champion ground attack with some room to roam, running 36 times for 214 yards. Tailback Matt Henderson carried the ball 17 times for 129 yards and two TDs (2, 7).

The always-dynamic Ricky Hord ran it seven times for 54 yards. The senior also caught three passes for 23 yards, including a 3-yard score.

"We have some decent athletes. We have to spread the field and use what we've got. The coaches did a good job of making those adjustments this week," Parker said.

The victory pushes Cascade's record to 3-3 overall and 2-0 in 9-A.

"This is what we've got to do week-in and week-out. We've got to come out and play. I thought our defense stepped up and did a good job," Parker said.

"The early season we had against that tough competition has got to start showing."

The Cascade defense came to play, not allowing Eagleville (2-5, 2-1) to their second first down until 16 minutes in. Jordan Lacey, who also carried for a 1-yard TD plunge, led the team with seven tackles and a sack. Caleb Chavis had five tackles and a sack. Michael Martin and Anthony Smith were credited with five stops as well.

Eagle quarterback Will Duke was forced into seven incompletions to start the game and finished 2-for-13 for 39 yards. He was intercepted once by Matt Henderson, who returned it to the end zone but the points were pulled off the board due to an illegal block.

Cascade quarterback Jared Carkuff runs through an arm tackle. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The Champs turned it over on their first and fourth possessions but scored every other time they had the ball in the first half, including a 21-point second quarter.

"Our guys settled down and sort of got into the groove of the game," Parker said. "We had a couple of turnovers, but I was proud of our performance."

Eagleville fumbled four times, but didn't fall on one itself until the fourth.

The final points came on a Duke 31-yard scoring run on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-one with 6:12 to play versus the victors' substitutes.

"We had some opportunities throughout the whole first half to make some plays on both sides of the ball," Carson said. "When you turn the ball over and have senseless penalties -- facemasks, late hits, things like that -- it makes it tough to win. It makes it tough to keep anything going.

"We'd take two steps forward, then do something silly and take three steps back. In the position we're in, we can't overcome those types of things."

Cascade hosts Community in another district game on Friday night at 7:30.