BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – After making a bit of history on Thursday by winning the program’s first Region Championship, the Cascade Champions (7-7, 3-3) made an even bigger piece of history on Saturday night with a 3-0 win over Hickman County (10-6-1, 4-2) to punch the program’s first-ever ticket to the TSSAA State Tournament.

“It’s unreal. If we’re real honest, it’s not quite real yet,” longtime Cascade Head Coach Zack Spears said postgame, “We told the boys pregame that there are no bad teams at this stage, so we all have a swinging chance in every game. That was a tough team, and it was great to win, but it’s not real yet. It’ll sink in at some point, but we are just so excited. Looking at that 0-6 team that started the year, I don’t think anybody was saying that team would make a run to state. I’m just so proud of them because they didn’t back down. They fought all the way through, and it’s why we get this. It’s beautiful.”

This year’s Cascade squad did start 0-6, but they have won eight of the last night games, including five in a row in the postseason to clinch a spot in Murfreesboro. 

On Thursday, the Champions fell behind in the first ten minutes of play and were forced to overcome a one-goal deficit to win the region. On Saturday, Andrew Dowell ensured that Cascade would have the lead instead. In the 11th minute, the hosts’ right back pounced on a bouncing ball in the penalty area off of a corner kick delivery from Caleb Draine, finding a way to get the final touch on a ball that slowly but surely nestled into the back of the net for the early 1-0 advantage.

Spears’ squad doubled their advantage in the 20th minute after Briston Moore’s cross was spilled by the Bulldogs’ goalkeeper, Joseph McCauley. McCauley’s error allowed Lando Martin to be Johnny-on-the-spot and tap in the game’s second goal to put the hosts ahead, 2-0, with roughly one hour remaining. 

As the first half ticked on and approached halftime, the Cascade defense became a major story. Coming into Saturday, Brayden Armstrong was leading Hickman County with 22 goals on the season as the Bulldogs’ starting forward, but he struggled to just get touches against the center back pairing of Trenton Giel and Caleb Smith. Giel and Smith set a few offside traps on the Bulldogs’ star forward, and the sophomore grew more and more frustrated as the game progressed deep into the second half. 

“He [Armstrong] is very good, and he’s built solid,” Spears said, “It’s a good thing my two in the back are wiry but strong, they don’t get pushed around, and they communicate extremely well with each other. They’re almost telepathic.”

As the game hung in the balance and the Bulldogs began to force the issue a bit more in the second half, Briston Moore was shown a yellow card in the 46th minute. Then, in the 54th minute, Draine was also booked, creating some nervy moments in the Champions’ midfield. Nonetheless, Cascade held on, and when both Moore and Draine returned, the Champions would find their third and final goal of the night.

In the 65th minute, Slade Austin found some space outside the top of the box, and the sophomore midfielder decided to try his chance at goal. Austin’s long-range effort was perfectly placed into the bottom-left corner, getting past McCauley due to its placement, and to Austin’s surprise.

“We knew we needed that third goal,” Spears admitted, “That 2-0 score is so scary because all it takes is one goal and the momentum completely flips. We knew we had the chances, we just needed to get that one in, and when Slade scored that, it became a much easier game for us and we really focused on defending.”

That third goal was enough to provide the hometown crowd a major sigh of relief heading into the final 15 minutes, and Cascade closed out the fourth clean sheet in five postseason games as the final whistle blew, sparking jubilant celebrations on both sides of the Champions’ sideline.

“I think it’s the heart,” Spears said about why this is the team to finally break through to the State Tournament, “We’ve had teams with exceptional talent in the past, but this is the most ‘team’ team that we’ve maybe ever had. They are all team-oriented, and everybody matters. You almost can’t gameplan for us in a way because you never know who’s going to get the goal. Andrew Dowell hasn’t scored all year, and he goes up and gets the first goal tonight. You don’t know who it’s going to be from one game to the next, but every game somebody steps up, and our boys in the back have been as solid as you could possibly hope for.”

With the win, Cascade improves to 1-3 in the sub-state round, and will take on Independence Academy in the first round of the 2026 TSSAA Class A Soccer State Tournament on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. on Field No. 1 at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro.