Recap of Davidson game from Cascade perspective

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Champions ambushed in nightmare loss

Sunday, August 23, 2009

By Danny Parker

 

 

Senior Ricky Hord (2) was one of few bright spots for Cascade on Friday night with a pair of long kickoff returns at Davidson Academy.

 

NASHVILLE -- Cascade completely dominated the numbers game and enjoyed cheers from their faithful after a spectacular performance.

 

Behind 85 members strong the praise was warranted. Davidson Academy's group of 15 did their best to entertain with a tribute to "Chronicles of Narnia," "Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," but it just wasn't enough.

 

Other than the halftime showcase by each school's band, the supporters who made the trek from Bedford County had little for which to stand and applaud Friday night.

 

Davidson Academy showed off some of the perks of being a private school in Divison II-A as they handed Cascade their worst defeat since 2005 by taking the Week Zero matchup 42-9.

 

Even though the Champions had but 1 rushing yard at the midway point, they trailed just 14-3. But, a trio of third-quarter touchdowns by the Bears effectively put the game away.

 

"Best team I've coached against (in 14 years)," Cascade coach Kenny Parker said. "By far the most physical and best team we've played since I've been at Cascade without a shadow of a doubt. They whooped us up front. Their tailback is for real, but he's got some moose up in front of him. They kicked our tails on both sides of the ball."

 

Davidson Academy tailback Justin Williams continued his assault on Troy Fleming's all-time state career rushing record with 29 carries for 276 yards and four touchdowns (15, 10, 2, 58). The junior was a workhorse for the Bears as his final carry didn't come until midway through the final quarter.

 

Champion ball carriers had little room to roam and often met defenders in the backfield. Senior tailback Matt Henderson was held to minus-1 yard rushing on 10 attempts.

 

Cascade finished with 10 yards on 25 rushes. In sharp contrast, the victors piled up 424 yards on 44 totes and had 20 plays of 10 yards or more.

 

"Nobody we've played had the beef and can do what (DA) did up front. We haven't seen anybody like that," Parker said.

 

"It's an eye-opener. We haven't seen anything like this this year. They brought it to us. I think we'll rebound. We'll be all right. We've just got to get some confidence now."

 

Both teams turned the ball over on their first possession before Williams made his first trip to the end zone 42 seconds into the second quarter from 15 yards out.

 

 

Champion wide receiver Tyler Bowen (33) turns upfield after pulling in a reception at Davidson Academy.

(T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

 

The Champs answered with a 10-play drive that resulted in a Josh Molder 25-yard field goal.

 

Williams streaked through the Orange and Black defense for a 10-yard score with 3:09 to go in the half.

 

Another answer was stopped cold at the DA 41-yard line with the Champs retreating 25 yards on penalties.

 

The rout was on from there with the Bears grinding out 181 yards in the third period alone.

 

"'We've got to block. We've got to tackle. We've got to get off blocks," Parker said. "We're a better football team than the way we played tonight, but the best team won that football game tonight, no doubt."

 

A 63-yard kickoff return by Ricky Hord gave the Champs the ball at the hosts' 9. Three plays later quarterback Jared Carkuff hit Gerald "Happy" Johnson with a strike to the chest for their only touchdown with 4:47 showing in the third.

 

Cascade threw in the towel early with half of their six fourth-quarter plays being handoffs to the fullback.

 

On the other hand, the Bears didn't quite feel like they had the game in hand up 26 points with less than a minute to go. Instead of taking a knee, Jequan Lewis scorched the visiting defense with a 40-yard run that ended with him crossing the goal-line with 17 ticks on the clock.

 

The Champs had some bright spots to point toward. Sophomore Peyton Sutton laid out to block a 36-yard field-goal attempt by Christian Peek. Johnson shared top tackler honors with seven stops. Michael Martin also tallied seven tackles and came up with an acrobatic catch over the middle on a fourth-and-two play in the second quarter the resulted in a 22-yard gain. And, Carkuff finished 15-of-22 passing for 115 yards and one interception in his first start under center.

 

Cascade must circle the wagons in a hurry with Jo Byrns coming to The Stable on Friday. The Red Devils ended the Champs' season last year en route to a runner-up finish in Class A.

 

"There's too many seniors that's been doing this too long and won too many ballgames. They'll be together. We'll bounce back," Parker said.