The season for Cascade football comes to an end with a 47-21 loss to Newport

The fine season of the Cascade Kodiaks football team came to an end with a crossover playoff loss at Newport last Friday. Newport, with their strong defense, held back the high powered Cascade offense to win 47-21. 

“They had a lot of snow, six inches from the night before. We were dealing with field conditions, a lot of slipping and falling and things like that. That’s why ended up throwing more than usual,” said Dom Coffin, Cascade head coach. 

Newport opened the scoring with a pair of touchdowns. Troy Hill passed 18-yards to Kade Zorica for one score and Koa Pancho ran 3-yards for another. The Grizzlies opened a 21-point lead in the second quarter with another Pancho TD run, this time from 15 yards. 

Cascade finally scored in the second quarter with a 38-yard pass from Jose Mendoza to Teague Duncan. The Grizzlies capped the first half scoring with another Pancho run, this time from 28 yards. 

Newport led 28-7 at the half. 

In the second half, the Grizzlies scored on an 85-yard pass from Pancho to Jacob Kirkwood to increase the led to 34-7. Cascade would answer with a 15-yard Isaiah Dayton TD run. 

Newport scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, before Cascade answered with a 12-yard Duncan TD run. The Grizzlies racked up 472 yards in total offense versus 277 for Cascade. 

“They had a lot of big plays and we just came out flat. We really didn’t tackle well, which put us behind in the beginning. In the second half, we came out and tried to compete. We gave up another two big plays which put us in a hole and made it tough to comeback,” Coffin said. 

Newport had 275 yards rushing, Cascade just 86. The Kodiaks had two fumbles, the Grizzlies had one. Mendoza was 13-for-25 passing for 167 yards and 1 touchdown. Pancho was 5-for-6 for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

Dayton led the Kodiaks with 63 yards rushing and 1 touchdown. Pancho had 109 yards and 3 touchdowns. Danny Bradbury had 108 yards and 1 touchdown. Jose Valdez had 8 catches for 91 yards for Cascade. Kirkwood had 2 catches for 138 yards 2 touchdowns. 

Cascade finishes the season 2-2 in league play and 6-4 overall. Coffin said it was a challenging season with all the injuries. 

“It was an awesome experience for our kids to get a chance to step up. We had a lot of guys who filled in and started. That’s strength for the future. It was a fun season for our kids. They worked hard. We had a great group of seniors,” Coffin said. 

As for next season, the future looks bright with a lot of talented players expected to return. 

“We’re excited for next year. We have a lot of guys with good experience coming back. It should be fun. That will be the time to make a run. Our younger guys will finally be the older guys. Hopefully we can make something happen,” Coffin said. 

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