Cascade Football 2026 Season Preview: Cougars Try to Reload After Historic Year

Nine months ago, Cascade football finished a perfect season: 13 straight wins and a state championship title.

If you’ve walked around Cascade’s campus since November, chances are high that you’ve seen the team's celebratory shirts and hoodies. In the classic Cougar black-and-yellow, numbers across the back shoulders read “594-155.” Down at the bottom, “52-0.” That first slash line represents the Cougars’ scoring margin throughout the entire season. The second represents the final score of the 4A state championship game.

With the 2026 season ramping up, the Cougars lost several star-studded graduates. The Cougars enter this season without their three main ball carriers: quarterback Cade Coreson and fulllbacks Matthew Hinkle and Bryce Kuenzi. On both sides of the ball, Cascade also said goodbye to several off-the-ball multi-year starters. The exit of Bryce May and Owen Wall on the offensive line, and Morrisen Craig and Cole Drager in the secondary defense leave significant holes for Head Coach Shane Hedrick to fill.

Thanks to the rising junior and senior classes, plus a few timely transfers, the Cougars have their work cut out for themselves.

In a classic Moneyball (2011) fashion, it would be crazy to suggest that Cascade could replace the 2025 Offensive Player of the Year, total rushing leader, and total touchdowns leader Bryce Kuenzi in one fell swoop. So why not try to recreate them in the aggregate? Wyatt Kerrigan and Travis Conklin, two of the Cougars three transfers from Stayton High School, are listed at both running back and linebacker—the two main positions Cascade lost due to graduation. Madden Hughes, a junior quarterback, rounds out the list of Stayton transfers, will add some competition for the returning Anderson Craig (SO).

Despite being only a week a way, these focal point positions have not yet had their depth charts solidified. While the Cougars' offense will likely settle into a rhythm with a single quarterback taking the lionshare of the offensive snaps, it's much more likely that the difference between RB1, 2, and 3 is only a handful of snaps each game.

It's not all new for Cascade; several returning players are poised to take on an even larger role in the wake of 2025's graduates. Josiah Hawkins (SR) at wide receiver was one of Coreson's favorite targets through the air. Hawkins is also a serious threat as a kick returner, notching multiple games with a punt or kickoff return to the endzone.

Returning to the OL are Brody Anundi (JR) and Jameson Walsh (SR), who both slot in at the tight end position. This one position is the perfect microcosm to describe the entire 2026 roster. Yes, the Cougars lost some graduating seniors. Yes, there are some enormous Kuenzi and Hinkle sized shoes to fill. But there is also touchdown-scoring depth across the entire field for Cascade to leverage in 2026.

The Cougars will begin their 2026 campaign on the road at Crescent Valley High School (Corvallis) on Friday, September 4 at 7 p.m. If you can't make it to the game in person, join Justin Lowder and I on the Cascade Sports Network for live radio coverage, and be sure to stop by here on our uReport page for football updates throughout the entire season.