BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – The Cascade Champions (1-0) opened the 2025 campaign with a dominant 41-6 win over the Cheatham County Cubs (0-1). 

Junior wideout Corey Gooch totaled three touchdowns, Webb transfer Sam Bradley impressed in his first start, and Xykaiah Dixon snagged two interceptions – including a pick-six – in his debut for the Champions.

Bradley finished 14/19 for 151 yards and a touchdown through the air. He also ran 11 times for 50 yards and another score. Nate Zimmerman, in his debut for Cascade after transferring from Shelbyville Central, tallied 37 yards rushing on six first-half carries and one touchdown. Gooch finished with 100 total yards – 35 rushing and 65 receiving – and three touchdowns on just seven touches.

Nate Zimmerman (20) tallied 74 total yards (37 rushing and 37 receiving) and 1 TD in Friday's win over Cheatham Co.

David Smith

Gooch first found the end zone halfway through the first quarter, hauling in a beautifully thrown 25-yard fade from Bradley for the first touchdown of the season for Cascade to cap a 58-yard, 53-second scoring drive to take a 7-0 lead with 6:27 left.

Following a fumble recovery by Brett Heunik to stop a Cheatham County drive in its tracks on Cascade’s side of the field, the Champions drove down once again for a touchdown, this time with Corey Gooch running in from 35 yards out on a jet sweep to give Cascade a 13-0 lead with 10:07 to go in the first half. 

Cheatham County responded with a touchdown drive of their own, taking nearly five minutes off the clock before Gunnar Orange found the end zone from three yards out to trim the lead to 13-6 with 5:16 to go.

However, another warp-speed scoring drive from the Champions put them back ahead by 13 after Zimmerman’s 13-yard touchdown run that saw him break four tackles to cross the goal line. This drive went 65 yards in 1:19, and gave Cascade a 20-6 lead going into the halftime locker room.

To open the second half, after the third 3-and-out of the game forced by the Champs’ defense, Cascade’s offense marched down the field once more when Bradley was flushed to his right before finding Gooch wide open on a short curl route five yards past the line-of-scrimmage.

Sam Bradley (2) finished 14/19 for 151 yards and 1 TD through the air against the Cubs. He also ran 11 times for 50 yards and 1 TD.

David Smith

Gooch used his elite speed to reverse field into daylight and reach the end zone for another 25-yard touchdown reception to grow Cascade’s lead to 27-6 with 6:32 left in the third quarter.

About five minutes later, Xykaiah Dixon added on to the scoring with a pick-six on Cheatham County’s side of the field after he hauled in a deflected pass over the middle of the field to push the lead to 34-6 with 1:55 to go in the third quarter.

Bradley would score the final touchdown of the night on a 35-yard scamper with 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter for the final margin of 41-6.

Cascade travels to Moore County on Friday night with kick-off at 7 p.m. LIVE on WZNG The Zinger 100.9 and AM 1400.