Rubber match goes to Ringling as Cashion’s season put to a halt with first-round defeat

The last two times Cashion and Ringling have played, the season has been on the line, but so has a gold ball.

The stakes were still high last Friday, but the ultimate prize was still a month away.

Turns out, only Ringling has a shot to get it.

The top-ranked Blue Devils exacted a bit of revenge from last year’s title tilt as they defeated Cashion 36-12 at home in the first round of the playoffs.

While Ringling moves into the second round, Cashion’s season with a 4-7 record.

The Wildcats played in the last three Class A title games.

They lost 20-14 to Ringling in the 2019 championship before beating Thomas for the 2020 crown.

The two met again last December and Cashion won its second straight championship, 21-14.

While this year’s version of Ringling might not have the number of playmakers as recent years, they’ve still got running back Kaden Barron.

“He’s a freak,” Cashion coach Lynn Shackelford said. “And freaks matter this time of year.”

Barron rushed 24 times for 231 yards and a pair of scores.

He also caught a 45yard touchdown and kicked a 20-yard field goal in the game.

The teams traded possessions in a scoreless first quarter before Ringling was able to get on the board early in the second.

A 40-yard drive was capped by a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Karson Daniel.

Barron later kicked his field goal and scored his first rushing TD of the game to give Ringling a 15-0 halftime lead.

That grew to 29-0 on the cold, blustery night before Cashion scored in the fourth quarter.

Cooper Frazee ran it in from 4 yards out to pull the Wildcats within 29-6.

Barron added another TD before Chance Acord threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Seth Gilbert to round out the scoring.

Acord battled the conditions to complete 19 of 38 passes for 185 yards.

Cashion’s ground game was limited to 66 yards on 24 attempts.

Ringling ran for 288 total yards.

“It was a challenging season,” said Shackelford of the 2022 campaign.

“We graduated three phenomonal classes in a row, so that meant we were counting on a lot of younger guys who just needed to gain some experience.

“We still were just a couple of breaks here and there from the season looking a lot different, but we reallly expect this to pay off down the road for us.”