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Champs dominant in 6-A finals

By CHRIS SIERS ~ sports@t-g.com
Posted 5/16/21

A first-half eruption was more than enough to carry the Cascade Champions to the District 6-A title on Thursday night, defeating cross-county rival Community, 9-1. The offense was on full display for the 6-A champs as Cascade needed just six minutes to get the scoring frenzy started...

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Champs dominant in 6-A finals

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A first-half eruption was more than enough to carry the Cascade Champions to the District 6-A title on Thursday night, defeating cross-county rival Community, 9-1.

The offense was on full display for the 6-A champs as Cascade needed just six minutes to get the scoring frenzy started.

"It was a good showing tonight. Our boys really showed up and did everything we could ask. It was awesome," Cascade coach Zack Spears said.

Isaac Chapa scored the game's first goal on a Pablo Solares assist.

The game settled into a bit of a stalemate for the following 14 minutes, but Solares came through on an assist to Blake Olive for the second goal of the night in the 20th minute.

Chapa made it 3-0 seven minutes later off an Olive assist for the 3-0 lead.

Community eventually got on the board in the 30th minute when Cascade goalkeeper Michael Anderson came out of the goal to make a stop against Viking forward McCade Miller.

Miller was taken down in the box and the Vikings were awarded a penalty kick.

Lining up the kick in the 30th minute, Randy Anica fired home the score for the Purple and Gold.

Following the Viking score, Cascade continued to dominate possession and win the 50-50 balls to set up runs on the Community goal.

In the 10 minutes following the Community penalty kick that led to halftime, Cascade found the back of the net four more times.

Drake Hodge answered the PK with an unassisted goal in the 32nd minute and senior Seth Countess notched a header for a goal in the 36th minute on an assist from Freedom Williams.

Ivan Draine got in on the offensive action in the final minutes before the half and came through on an unassisted strike in the 38th minute and assisted Hodge's second score in the 39th minute.

"Cascade is a good team. They have a lot of speed and do a good job on possessing the ball," Viking coach Cody Pierce said.

With the lead well in hand, Cascade changed the personnel on the field, but was still able to control the possession for the bulk of the second half and only allowed a handful of Viking runs on goal.

One of those personnel changes came when Anderson, who played keeper in the first half, was repositioned to the field, came through with both second-half scores.

He laced home a 61st score on a penalty kick and the game's final score in the 77th minute off a Drake Hodge assist.

Although it ended in a lop-sided defeat, the Vikings are still alive and will make the trek to Signal Mountain on Tuesday, hoping to pull off the upset against the Eagles, who played for the Class A state title in 2019.

"We get to keep playing though. We have to go on the road, but we hope to go get a win on Tuesday. We just have to possess the ball better and play more on the offensive side than defense," Pierce said.

For the Champs, the win guarantees Cascade a home game in the Region 3-A tournament on Tuesday, with the chance to continue making history.

"We have a chance to make some history that we've never seen around here. We have to win a game in region," Spears said.

That will have to come against a talented Chattanooga School of Arts and Sciences squad, who Cascade is all-too-familiar with.

While the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cascade last met CSAS in the 2019 postseason that ended in a 1-0 loss.

Fueled by the prospect of claiming the first-ever region victory, the Champs hope to carry over the momentum from Thursday night's game.

"We have to play like we did tonight against that other team and I think we have a shot. You never know what's coming, but we have enough to scare some people," Spears said.

Cascade will face CSAS at 4:30 on Tuesday, while the Vikings will kick off at Signal Mountain at 6 p.m. (EST).

Community 7 2 - 9

Cascade 1 0 - 1

First Half

Cas - Isaac Chapa goal, Pablo Solares assist, (6th minute).

Cas - Blake Olive goal, Solares assist, (20th minute).

Cas - Chapa goal, Olive assist, (27th minute).

Com - Randy Anica penalty kick goal, (30th minute)

Cas - Drake Hodge goal, (32nd minute).

Cas - Seth Countess goal, Freedom Williams assist, (36th minute).

Cas - Ivan Draine goal, (38th minute).

Cas - Hodge goal, Ivan Draine assist, (39th minute).

Second Half

Cas - Michael Anderson penalty kick goal, (61st minute).

Cas - Anderson goal, Hodge assist, 77th minute).