CHAPEL HILL — For the second-straight week, the Cascade Champions dominated their opponent in shutout fashion as they cruised to a 49-0 victory over the Forrest Rockets on Friday night for their first Region 5-AA win of the season.
The Champions (4-3, 1-2) totaled 359 yards of offense, while holding the Rockets (3-4, 1-2) to only 85 yards, and head coach Jake Tyre was pleased with his defense’s performance.
“The defense is playing lights out right now,” Tyre said. “They’re understanding what we’re doing, and we’re rotating a lot of guys which keeps us fresh throughout the game.”
“They’re starting to play football like we thought we could at the beginning of the season. We started out sluggish, but now we’re starting to pick up a bit of steam.”
Cascade’s defense set the tone early by forcing Forrest to punt on their opening drive which led to good field position for the Champions.
A few plays later, quarterback Xamarion Dixon weaved his way through the defense for a 34 yard touchdown run with six minutes and 40 seconds left in the first quarter.
Isaac Chapa added the point after to make it a 7-0 game.
Answering the bell again on the ensuing drive, the Champions defense recovered a fumble with a minute and a half left in the first quarter.
And their offense capitalized on the turnover when Dixon connected with receiver Hayden Dowell for a 30 yard touchdown pass as the first quarter buzzer sounded.
Sawyer Lovvorn converted the two point play for a 15-0 Cascade lead.
With eight minutes and three seconds remaining in the second quarter, Dixon snuck into the endzone from four yards away for his second of the game
The point after was no good and left them with a 21-0 lead heading into halftime.
Cascade received the second half kickoff, and they quickly put more points on the board as running back Connor Huie bolted down the sideline for a 65 yard score just 33 seconds into the second half.
Huie had a career night by rushing for 169 yards on 10 carries with three touchdowns against the Rockets.
As a whole, the Champions totaled 283 yards on the ground.
“We’re going to run the ball, and everyone knows that,” Tyre said.
“Last week we decided to pass the ball a little bit more, but we’re a run first team. Connor Huie just took it over in the second half, and he ran like a man possessed.”
The Champions’ defense continued to contain the Rockets’ offense in the second half by disrupting the line of scrimmage and forcing turnovers.
Defensive back Chance Brown added the second turnover of the night when he came down with an interception that led to another Cascade score.
It was Huie again on a long trot of 51 yards to the endzone to give his team a 36-0 advantage with five minutes and seven seconds left in the third quarter.
Shortly after, defensive tackle Logan Morton recovered a Rockets’ fumble for their third turnover of the game.
The Champions forced four turnovers in total while not committing a single one offensively.
“That was the first complete game we’ve played all year,” Tyre said.
“Two weeks in a row that we haven’t had a turnover, we’ve gotten turnovers, and haven’t had any mental mistakes. That’s a good ball team over there, and to come out here and win like this feels good.”
Huie capitalized on Morton’s recovery when he powered his way to an 11-yard score with two minutes and 25 seconds left in the third quarter for a 43-0 lead after the extra point.
After forcing Forrest to turn it over on downs on the following drive, Dixon added the final touchdown of the game on a 23 yard dash with nine minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the game.
Dixon totaled four touchdowns on the night with 73 rushing yards and 76 passing yards.
As the clock ran out, Cascade’s defense added a final touch by intercepting the final pass of the game in the end zone to complete the 49-0 shutout.
The Champions control their own destiny at this point in the season with two region games remaining on their schedule.
Tyre knows the importance of finishing strong late in the season.
“Every region game is important to us, so we have to go out and keep winning.” Tyre said.
“We have to focus on being 1-0 every week. We backed ourselves into a corner early in the season, so we’re having to fight our way out of it right now.”
Before they finish out their region schedule, Cascade will take a road trip to take on Jo Byrns in Cedar Hill this upcoming Friday night.

Cascade 15 6 22 6 – 49
Forrest 0 0 0 0 – 0

First Quarter
C — Xamarion Dixon 34 run, (Isaac Chapa kick), 6:40.
C —Hayden Dowell 30 pass from Dixon, (Sawyer Lovvor 2 pt.) 0:00.

Second Quarter
C — Dixon 4 run, (kick failed), 8:03

Third Quarter
C — Connor Huie 65 run, (Chapa kick), 11:27
C — Huie 51 run, (Lovvorn 2 pt. good), 5:07
C — Huie 11 run, (Chapa kick), 2:25

Fourth Quarter
C — Dixon 23 run, (kick failed), 9:10.