ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions (1-0, 0-0) kicked off the 2026 campaign with a wire-to-wire blowout win at Cheatham County (0-1, 0-0) on Friday night, 42-21.

Cascade took a 36-0 lead heading into halftime and never looked back. The Cubs, who kept their starters in the entire game, scored three garbage-time touchdowns in the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter to make the final score a bit more respectable.

Early on, the Champions opened the scoring with a 21-yard touchdown run from Nate Zimmerman to take an 8-0 lead with 9:38 to go in the opening period. Zimmerman finished with 110 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 17 attempts.

On the ensuing Cheatham County drive, Allan Blanton recovered a fumble, setting up a short field for the Champions that they eventually took advantage of thanks to a Zimmerman two-yard touchdown plunge with 1:31 left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, senior quarterback Sam Bradley, who finished an efficient 17-of-22 for 232 yards and three touchdowns through the air, found Delontae Clay for a 14-yard touchdown to grow the lead to 22-0. 

A few minutes later, Bradley found Clay again from 28 yards out to grow the lead to four scores before Zimmerman found paydirt from two yards out to take a 36-0 lead heading into the halftime break.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, but after the Cubs reached the end zone twice via the legs of Luke Austin and Walker Hobbs, Sam Bradley found Braxtyn Burris for a 13-yard touchdown to take a 42-14 lead late in the fourth quarter. Cheatham County tacked on one final touchdown to reach the final score of 42-21.

Cheatham County ran for 300 yards on the ground as a team, led by Hobbs 129 yards on 19 carries as well as Austin’s 110 yards on 17 attempts. However, Cascade limited Austin to just 2-for-6 passing for 19 yards and one interception through the air. 

For Cascade, Lendon Gordon caught six balls for 72 yards, Burris hauled in five receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown, and Clay finished with three catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Champions. 

Cascade improves to 1-0 on the season, and are set to host rival Moore County on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in the 2026 home opener.