Cascade improves to 2-1 on season with road win over Heppner, 42-21

The Cascade Kodiak football team scored a big road win at Heppner of Oregon last Friday. The Kodiaks won 42-21 to improve to 2-1 on the season. Cascade hosted Heppner last year, winning 14-6. Head Coach Dom Coffin was expecting another tough challenge. 

“They made the finals in their division last year. They had a good turnout of guys. They had a big, physical offensive line. It was a good test for our offensive and defensive lines for how big and physical they were,” Coffin said. 

Cascade scored first on a 66-yard run by Jose Valdez with 3:55 to go in the first quarter. The Kodiaks would take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on pass from Jose Mendoza to Quinn Ashcraft from 9 yards. 

Heppner scored in the second quarter, but missed the two point conversion. Cascade led 14-6. Teague Duncan broke free for a 47-yard run as Cascade went up 21-6 at half. 

Cascade broke the game open in the third quarter, scoring three times. Mendoza passed to Dillon Samuel from 46-yards for the touchdown. Issiah Dayton ran 16-yards for the score. Mendoza connected Ashcraft against from 6-yards as the Kodiaks went up 42-6. 

Heppner scored another TD on a 69-yard pass, but the conversion failed. 

“We ended up having a slow start, but we had a good third quarter to finish it off. It was good to see our skill guys get into some open space and make some plays,” Coffin said. 

Cascade had 349 yards in total offense versus 218 for Heppner. Cascade had 115 yards passing and 194 yards rushing. Coffin said balance is something they have been striving for. 

“We were able throw the ball pretty good, which is something we’re working on. We are trying to even out our offense,” Coffin said. 

Mendoza was 10-for-15 passing for 155 yards and 3 touchdowns. Valdez had 9 rushes for 79 yards and 1 touchdown. Duncan had 6 carries for 64 yards and 1 TD. Ashcraft caught 5 passes for 56 yards and 2 TDs. 

Next up for Cascade, another non-league game. They play at Sultan on Friday. Last season, Sultan beat Cascade 48-41. 

“They beat us last year. They had a lot of seniors, but they look like they have a decent team so we’ll see how it goes,” Coffin said. 

Coffin said the Kodiaks just need to play their game. 

“We need to play well on the offensive line and balance the run and pass. Defensively, we need to make sure to continue to tackle well,” Coffin said. 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.