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Just before Cashion’s second snap of the 2025 season, Wildcat defensive coordinator Tony Wood walked down the sideline and simply said “touchdown.”

“Who?” he was asked. “Number 30,” was the reply.

Moments later, quarterback Kellen Smith lofted a pass down the field.

It landed safely into the hands of Rival Fields, who outran Hennessey defenders into the end zone for a 77-yard touchdown.

Fields wears number 30. Wood nonchalantly shrugged after the play like it was no big deal.

But everything about the night in Cashion was a big deal.

That was the first big play into what was a 41-13 victory for the Wildcats.

The win came on Maxon Field, which isn’t unusual for Cashion.

Only this wasn’t your grandpa’s Maxon Field.

It’s Cashion’s new stateof- the-art stadium, which was christened with the victory.

New synthetic turf. New home stands. New press box. New scoreboard. New LED lights that flashed their excitement with each Cashion score.

“It was awesome,” said Cashion head coach Lynn Shackelford. “But it’s going to take a while for it to feel like a home game. It was all new. It felt like a neutral site.

“But the familiarity will come.”

That early play sparked a first half that saw Cashion take a 34-0 lead.

While the Wildcats dominated much of the first 24 minutes, Hennessey still had a chance to make it a two-score game late in the second quarter.

The Eagles were in the midst of a 12-play drive that saw them drive to the Cashion 16 with just under 1 minute to play.

A touchdown before the half would cut the Eagles’ deficit to two scores and they’d be buoyed by the fact they were to receive the second half kickoff.

On the play after Hennessey’s final timeout, there was a touchdown.

Unfortunately for the visitors, it went the wrong direction.

Grayson Davis stepped in front of a Levi Ferrel pass, picked it off, weaved his way through a wave of blue jerseys, hit the sideline, then outran Ferrel’s angle and scored on a 92-yard interception return.

The bad news compounded for the Eagles before the half.

They fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Cashion’s Hank Brown jumped on it.

Cashion drove 31 yards and scored on the final play of the half, a 6-yard pass from Smith to a leaping King Underwood.

“It was huge,” said Shackelford of the sequence. “We’re looking at potentially being up 20-7 and just like that it turns into 34-0.”

Hennessey head coach Mark Cox agreed that stretch was a major turning point.

“I think some of our guys got pretty rattled at that point and we let one mistake snowball into several mistakes, which can’t happen against a good team,” Cox said.

“We showed our lack of experience there, but we will get better at handling difficult situations.”

Cashion had one more big play in the chamber.

Smith and Davis connected for an 84-yard touchdown - Davis’ third score of the game - in the third quarter for the 41-0 lead.

For Smith, it was an efficient outing.

He was 10 of 15 for 238 yards and four TDs through the air.

“He did a really good job of getting it to his playmakers and letting them do something with it,” Shackelford said.

Davis caught three passes for 96 yards and two scores. His first TD of the night was a 7-yard pass from Smith in the second quarter.

Underwood had six grabs or 61 yards and Fields two for 80.

Cashion ran it 27 times for 124 yards, an average of 4.6 a carry.

Smith picked up 40 yards on five carries and Fields picked up 32 yards on seven attempts, including a 5-yard TD run in the second quarter.

“We need to clean up the run game, but for as many new guys as we played up front that wasn’t unexpected,” Shackelford said.

Cashion returned just one starting offensive lineman this year.

The bulk of his experience returning was at the skill position on offense and in the secondary on defense.

It showed. Hennessey was just 6 of 18 passing for 50 yards and the one interception.

“Those guys covered as well as we’ve done in a long time,” Shackelford said. “But that’s also to be expected. Most of those guys are starting for the third year now. I’m hoping the light bulb went off for them.

“They’re realizing they aren’t 13- and 14-year-olds back there who are going to get physically dominated anymore. Now they’re the ones who are bigger, stronger and faster.”

Shackelford also liked what he saw in the return of Aiden Bowen, a defensive tackle who didn’t play a season ago.

“He’s got a chance to be really good for us up there,” Shackelford said.

Bowen showed it by leading the team with nine stops.

Davis had eight while Austin Compton chipped in seven tackles.

Sophomore Beau Vinson led Hennessey with seven tackles.

Jameson Ladwig and David Gonzalez had six apiece.

The Eagles tacked on two touchdowns in the fourth quarter when Vinson scored on a 6-yard run and Ryker Painter from 3 yards out.

The run game was a positive for Cox and the Eagles as they tallied 196 yards on 26 attempts, also 4.6 per carry.

“Our run game was a plus,” Cox said. “Our offensive line and tight ends played well overall, and our backs ran the ball well.

“But, we have to have a more balanced attack offensively and we are capable of getting that done.”

Mario Lopez did a bulk of the damage for the Eagles as his 23 carries netted 105 total yards.

Painter added 36 yards on six attempts.

Vinson led the receiving corps with three catches for 33 yards.

Hennessey makes its home debut this Friday by hosting Chisholm.

Cashion hits the road against Velma-Alma. The Wildcats won’t return to their new home until Oct. 3 when they host Watonga.

It will be another chance for the new to become more familiar.

Cashion’s new Maxon Field will grow on Shackelford… just as he realized Cashion itself is growing.

“I was talking with our principal after a game and texting with another coach after that,” Shackelford said. “We all had the same sentiment about the night.

“The amount of people. The turf. The lights. It just felt like Cashion was a lot bigger than what we feel Cashion is.

“And it probably is.”