PULASKI, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions (3-3, 0-2) suffered their second-consecutive defeat in Region 4-AAA at Giles County (4-2, 2-0)  on Friday night, 38-7. 

Cascade’s offense generated less than 200 total yards on the night compared to the 466 yards the Bobcats recorded that included 366 yards rushing. 

“We knew going into it that this would be one of if not the best defensive line that we would face,” Cascade Head Coach Jared Carkuff said, “They’re really good up front.”

After both teams traded punts on their opening drives, Giles County found the end zone with a 14-yard touchdown run by Carter Pettigrew to cap a 61-yard drive with 4:09 left in the first quarter.

Both teams traded punts again before the Bobcats doubled their lead on a backbreaking scoop-and-score from Zahari Howell. On third and short, Cascade quarterback Sam Bradley dropped back to pass before rolling left to escape pressure. Giles County chased him down, forcing a fumble that Howell recovered at the Champions’ 38-yard line before he ran into the end zone untouched to give the hosts a 14-0 lead with 10:30 remaining in the first half.

Cascade went three-and-out on its ensuing drive, but then the Champions’ defense stepped up to give its offense good field position. Drew McLemore – starting for the injured Xavier Randolph – dropped back to pass and fired the ball intended for his receiver on a slant pattern. However, the ball sailed over his target’s head and into the waiting arms of Xykaiah Dixon at the Bobcats’ 36-yard line.

Three plays later on 3rd-and-10, Bradley evaded pressure just long enough to find Lendon Gordon streaking open downfield for a 36-yard touchdown pass, trimming the lead to 14-7 with 8:28 remaining in the second quarter. 

“We knew their safeties flew down a lot, and so a double move would work,” Carkuff said, “We were initially at 3rd-and-5 before a false start, so we were already planning to potentially go for it on fourth down, but when it’s 3rd-and-10 we thought we might as well go for it. Awesome play by both of them.”

Gordon finished with three receptions for 47 yards and the one score while Bradley went 11-for-30 through the air for just 68 yards and one touchdown. Bradley also ran for 56 yards on 10 carries.

On Giles County’s ensuing possession, the Bobcats opened with a 27-yard scamper by Pettigrew, but then three questionable 15-yard penalties against the Champions moved the ball all the way inside the five-yard line. Pettigrew found the end zone from two yards out shortly thereafter to take a 21-7 lead with 7:19 to go in the half. 

The two sides traded punts again before McLemore found a lane on a read option down the left sideline for a 52-yard touchdown run with 1:40 left in the first half to make the score 28-7 heading into halftime. McLemore would finish the game going 8-of-14 through the air for 91 yards and one interception while carrying the ball six times for 126 yards and one score.

On the other side, Cascade finished the first half with just 83 total yards on nine possessions.

To open the second half, Pettigrew found the end zone from 19 yards out for his third and final touchdown of the game to take a 35-7 lead. The Bobcats star tailback toted the rock 22 times for 204 yards and three touchdowns in an impressive performance on the ground. 

After a Cascade turnover-on-downs, Giles County tacked on a 31-yard field goal with 2:16 to go in the third quarter to reach the final score of 38-7, initiating a running clock for the remainder of the game.

Cascade saw the return of Nate Zimmerman, and the two-way star made his presence felt defensively with nearly 20 tackles on the night. He also carried the ball six times for 31 yards. 

At receiver for Cascade to complement Gordon, Braxtyn Burris caught a team-high six passes for 46 yards.

Cascade falls to 3-3 overall. The Champions return home to take on unbeaten Chapel Hill for homecoming on Friday night with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.