BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. – When Jared Carkuff first returned to Cascade to be the Head Football Coach before the 2024 season, he knew it would take time to build the culture up to the standard he expected and has experienced at previous stops. After limping to a 1-9 record in his first season, the Champions showed notable improvement in 2025, starting out the season by winning three of their first four games before finishing a respectable 4-6 (1-4) after reclassifying up to Class AAA. With that improvement, Carkuff is seeing that shift in culture that he has been wanting.

“This summer has been really good. We have a good group and they get after it,” he said, “We finally are seeing that culture and mentality change that I’ve been looking for from top to bottom. Before, we had plenty of it, but it was just a select few that was hindering the change. Everyone is pretty bought in, so it should be fun.”

Cascade is returning some nice pieces from a team that showed flashes a year ago, but was unable to keep it all together once region play came around. And make no mistake, Region 4-AAA is one of the more competitive regions in the state. At the top last season was Sequatchie County as well as Giles County, but both teams saw their season end in the second round of the playoffs to Meigs and Tyner, respectively. However, Carkuff feels like Region 4-AAA isn’t as cut and dry as some might think.

“Giles and Sequatchie last year were probably the best teams, but Watertown beat Giles, and Chapel Hill could have beat any of them,” Carkuff said, “When you have a kid like Quincy [Mitchell], you’re in every game. I think this year, the answer to who gets in the playoffs might come down to tiebreakers. I think almost everybody can beat almost everybody in this region.”

“The whole thing with 3A and below is you have to have a quarterback, an offensive line, and a solid defense,” he continued, “You can win games without that, but to make a true run, that’s what you have to have. We have the quarterback, our O-line should be much better, and our defense should be a lot better as well. We’ve made progress in the three most important parts of the game at this level, so we have no excuse.”

The most important position group – as well as the one with a few outside questions – for the Champions is the offensive line. Last year, Sam Bradley – who is a dynamic quarterback and should have a breakout senior season this year – was forced to improvise more than Cascade would like, and he eventually sustained an injury in the process. This year, after returning three of the five starters, the biggest goal is to Keep Sam Healthy – or KSH – and that hinges on the development and improvement up front.

“I feel like a lot of the leadership on the team comes from our offensive line. Everyone expects the quarterback or the running back to be a leader, so when you have o-linemen that are leaders for the whole team and not just in their position group, that’s huge. Across the board, they seem to be best friends with the skill guys, and that’s when it’s great. This year, it’s the third year in our system. They’re more comfortable because there’s no thinking anymore. They have the mindset of ‘I’m going to put this guy in the dirt’, and it’s because they know what they’re doing. It took time. Before, they’re thinking about who they’re going to block or where they’re going to go, and now it’s second-nature.”

Behind the offensive line, Sam Bradley returns for his second and final season in Carkuff’s offense. Bradley’s statistics from last season aren’t particularly eye-popping – 100-for-178 (56.2%) for 1,161 yards through the air with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions while being the team’s second-leading rusher with 402 yards and two touchdowns on 77 attempts – but there were plenty of flashes throughout the season. 

“We talk about having to have a quarterback at this level to make a run, and he [Sam Bradley] is that good, but off the field, everyone is on time because of him,” Carkuff said about his star QB, “He leads by example – he shows up and gets his work done. He’s not a ra-ra guy, if he has to get into you he will, but he just wants to play football. The way he goes about it though, he elevates everybody around him. I think that’s just as or more valuable than him being an elite passer, and he can really run the ball as well. Our philosophy is to keep Sam healthy this year so that whenever we get in important games we can run him a bit more. KSH, Keep Sam Healthy. He’s elite with the ball in his hands and in the open field. When you have a guy who can do both at a high level and he’s a leader, there’s nothing more valuable than that. He escapes and improvises at such a high level when the play breaks down as well. A lot of people can’t do that.”

If Bradley gets time to throw, he has dangerous targets downfield who can make plays, as well as stud standing beside him in the backfield in Nate Zimmerman.

After transferring in from Shelbyville Central before the 2025 season, Zimmerman finished as the team’s leading rusher with 495 yards and seven touchdowns on 126 attempts. If the offensive line is as improved as it sounds like, Zimmerman has a realistic chance of reaching 800 yards on the ground to complement the dual-threat nature of Bradley.

“I think for the first time since I’ve been here, we have a true two-deep across the board,” Carkuff said, “Nate [Zimmerman] at running back is elite and has that big-play potential, but behind him, Josh Cunningham is someone a lot of people would take as their main guy. He’s smaller, but he’s going to run downhill, he’s going to find the seam, and he’s going to do his job.

“At receiver, we don’t have any really big guys, but with what we do, it works,” he continued, “We have [Delontae Clay], [Braxtyn Burris], Xykaiah [Dixon] who is the fastest guy on the team, and Alan Blanton, who is a converted running back. We also really have three tight ends. [Brett] Heunik is doing great, Ty Hazelwood, and freshman Cole Hutson. We feel very comfortable at the skill positions on both offense and defense, since a lot of them play both ways.”

Last year, rising seniors Burris and Clay were the second and third-best receivers, respectively, by yardage behind Corey Gooch, who graduated. Burris caught 26 balls for 254 yards and one touchdown while having to step in at quarterback a few times. Meanwhile, Clay accumulated 232 yards receiving with three touchdowns on 21 receptions. 

Defensively, the Champions play a lot of skill guys both ways, but up front, Carkuff has found a way to limit it to just two guys subbing in for each other.

“There is really just one, maybe two guys that play both ways up front,” he said, “Isaac Rimes, and then Titus Schudar will flip with him to make sure he gets a few breaks. Our goal for this year up front defensively was to have a true set of guys that were defense-focused.”

“[Clay] and [Burris] at safety, and those are physical dudes that want to hurt you, so that’s fun to have back there,” he continued, “Ty [Hazelwood] will play corner this year, and Lendon [Gordon] is playing corner after playing safety last year. We’re technically bringing back a lot of returners, but we have shuffled their positions.”

At linebacker, Heunik and Blanton – both tight ends on offense – are projected starters at outside linebacker. In the middle, Nate Zimmerman and Blake White are the other two projected starters in the 3-4 setup.

One of the biggest hurdles for the Cascade program has actually been off the field and away from X’s and O’s. Not just learning how to win, but learning how to play through adversity and come out the other side has been perhaps the biggest challenge for the Champions to work through in the offseason.

“Our biggest thing last year was we would get fatigued, we start getting beat, then we’d blow up mentally,” Carkuff admitted, “Watertown was a two-point game going into halftime. We would have been within one point at halftime if not for a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown against Giles County. It felt like at Sequatchie, everything that could go wrong did go wrong in the first half. We rolled into Sequatchie for the first region game and the guys were just so stressed out to start. Every other game, one thing would go wrong and we’d go back to thinking we suck and it fell apart. I don’t think this group has that. Obviously time will tell, but in the Spring Game we came out terrible and then turned it around to dominate. I think that’s what is different this year.”

With all the improvement and changes heading into Year Three, Cascade seems poised for a breakout season. The excitement is palpable among the coaching staff.

“I truly feel like this group can be really special, but they have to believe it,” Carkuff admitted, “I told them the other day, ‘If you think you can’t do it, then you’re right.’ Whatever you think is what you’ll do. On paper we are there, and we should win a lot of games, but that’s not always what plays out on the field.”

The aim for Cascade is to find a way to make the playoffs for the first time in the Carkuff era, and to do that, the Champions are going to have to win at least two, if not three, region contests this season: Community, Chapel Hill, and/or Watertown. Whatever team finishes with two region wins will be white-knuckling the final day, but three wins will clinch a spot in the postseason. With the pieces Cascade has this season, the potential is definitely there.

“It’s going to be exciting,” Carkuff concluded, “It’s going to be entertaining. We’re going to sling it, we’re going to run it, and we’re going to fly around and hit people on defense. The confidence in this group to fly around and make something happen makes it fun to watch. If you come out here, there’s going to be excitement all around you. Home games are going to be a lot of fun.”

2026 CASCADE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Aug. 21 – AT Cheatham County

Aug. 28 – VS Moore County

Sep. 4 – VS Summertown*

Sep. 11 – AT Eagleville

Sep. 18 – VS Sequatchie County*

Sep. 25 – BYE

Oct. 2 – AT Giles County

Oct. 9 – VS Chapel Hill* (Homecoming)

Oct. 16 – AT Watertown*

Oct. 23 – VS Marion County (Senior Night)

Oct. 29 – AT Community*

2026 CASCADE FOOTBALL ROSTER

0 – Braxtyn Burris (WR/DB) 29 – Easton Martin (WR/DB)

1 – Brett Heunik (Te/OLB) 30 – Tay Smith (WR/DB)

2 – Sam Bradley (QB) 31 – Kori Smith (WR/DB)

3 – Delontae Clay (WR/DB) 32 – Kamani Ross-Brown (WR/DB)

4 – Ty Hazelwood (WR/DB) 33 – Brady Lyons (WR/DB)

6 – Johel Perez (RB/LB) 35 – Peyton Jacobs (WR/DB)

7 – Allan Blanton (WR/OLB) 36 – Roman Blackman (WR/DB)

8 – Slater Hall (WR/DB) 44 – Diego Torres Perez (K/P)

9 – Landon Gordon (WR/DB) 50 – Nick Moreland (OL/DL)

10 – Robbie Davis-Jackson (WR/DB) 51 – Elijah Hord (OL/LB)

11 – Xykaiah Dixon (WR/DB) 52 – Gabriel Graham (OL/DL)

12 – Malaki Holloman (WR/DB) 53 – Damian Slusher (OL/DL)

13 – Jeremy Weldon (WR/DB) 54 – Isaac Rimes (OL/DL)

14 – Wyatt Hooker (QB) 55 – Fermin Estrada (OL/DL)

15 – Cole Hutson (TE/OLB) 56 – Kolton Strickland (OL/LB)

16 – Easton Finch (RB/DB) 60 – DaShawn Ferrell (OL/DL)

17 – Xander Shockley (WR/DB) 61 – Eli Miller (OL/DL)

18 – Josh Rose (WR/DB) 62 – Korbin Smith (OL/DL)

19 – Garrett Caswell (QB/DB) 63 – Cyontay Simmons (OL/DL)

20 – Nate Zimmerman (RB/LB) 64 – Adrian Cass (OL/LB)

21 – Sully Brainard (WR/DB) 65 – Ty Mann (OL/OLB)

22 – Blake White (TE/LB) 66 – Slade Thompson (OL/DL)

23 – Josh Cunningham (RB/OLB) 67 – Braxton Byrd (OL/DL)

24 – Laythan Wix (TE/LB) 70 – Cambron Reynolds (OL/DL)

25 – Malaki Tyre (WR/DB) 74 – Titus Schudar (OL/DL)

26 – Lando Martin (K/P) 75 – Landon Finch (OL/DL)

27 – Eli Blackman (WR/DB) 76 – Levi Morgan (OL/DL)

28 – Patrick Dowell (WR/OLB)

HC – Jared Carkuff DC – Braxton Waddell 

OC – Alex Roberts DL – Phil Hord

QB – Drew Hooker LB – Chris Arnold 

WR – Will Carter DB – Ricky Hord

OL – Ethan Calvert SPT – Sanders Lovvorn

O Analyst – Brent Mansfield D Analyst – AJ Vanderpool