SUMMERTOWN, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions (2-1) lost their first game of the 2025 season at Summertown (2-1), 23-21, on Friday night.

Nate Zimmerman surpassed 100 yards rushing for the first time this season for Cascade to go along with a pair of touchdowns. Sam Bradley finished 11/19 for 97 yards through the air with a passing touchdown. Bradley also tallied 52 yards rushing on nine attempts. 

Meanwhile, the Eagles ran for 230 yards as a team, but it was a 58-yard catch-and-run completion from Max Dillard to McKaleb Powell with 7:30 left in the fourth quarter that put Summertown ahead for good. 

Summertown opened the scoring on a 5-yard touchdown plunge by Dillard on the first drive of the game with 7:51 to go in the first quarter. 

Cascade went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, giving Summertown great field position at the Champs’ 43-yard line after a 17-yard punt return. However, Cascade’s defense bowed up in the red zone, forcing Summertown to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Brad Hoffman to take a 10-0 lead with 3:55 to go in the first quarter. 

The Champs responded by putting together their first touchdown drive of the night, capping it off with a one-yard leaping touchdown by Zimmerman to trim the lead to 10-7 with 10:19 left in the second quarter.

In response, Summertown took nearly eight minutes off the clock before finding the end zone from one yard out with Cainaan Klinghard to put the Eagles back up by 10 points, 17-7, with 2:39 left in the first half. 

The Champs looked like they would at least tack on a field goal before halftime, but an illegal formation penalty led to an unsportsmanlike conduct foul which led to a fourth-and-twenty from the Eagles’ 40-yard line with 19 seconds left. After Cascade failed to convert, both teams headed to the halftime locker room with Summertown leading, 17-7.

To start the second half, Cascade took the kickoff and drove into the end zone after generating some chunk plays in the passing game. Bradley ended the drive by finding Delontae Clay on a screen, and Clay did the rest to find the end zone from 21 yards out to trim the Eagles lead to just three points, 17-14, with 8:16 to go in the third quarter.

Summertown used over seven minutes of clock on its ensuing possession, but were ultimately unable to trouble the Champs’ defense and were forced to punt away with just under two minutes left in the third. 

Cascade was aided by a facemask penalty on the second play of the drive that moved the ball all the way to the hosts’ 46-yard line, and then Zimmerman capped off the drive with a 27-yard touchdown run to put the visitors in front for the first time all night, 21-17, with 10:44 left in the fourth quarter.

However, on the ensuing drive for the Eagles, Dillard connected with Powell on one of the only pass attempts all night long for Summertown, giving the hosts a 23-21 lead that they would not relinquish. 

Cascade reached the Eagles’ 37-yard line on the next possession, but after failing to convert on fourth-and-eleven, Summertown regained possession with just 3:52 remaining in the fourth. After Klinghard picked up six yards on a third-and-five, Summertown was able to run out the rest of the clock and secure its second win of the season.

Cascade falls to 2-1. The Champions return home to host Eagleville on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.