Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - The Storm of Stuart W. Cramer blew into Rudisill Stadium on October 24th to take on the Cherryville Ironmen as they played their regular-season home finale. Unfortunately, the Ironmen were unable to weather the storm, as they fell 42-7 after a hard-fought game. This was senior night for the Ironmen, with senior players recognized before the game. Those recognized were Justin Harris, Paxton Pruett, Trevor McSwain, Hunter Griffin, Weston Bowers, Gabriel McSwain, Talon Dalton, Davin Digh, Alvin Ibarra, Jeremy Hatcher, Luke Honeyman, Jetson Hamilton, Jacob Truett, and Colton Robinson. Cherryville came in a little banged up; some of the injured players included Jackson Mayhue, Naveon Busch, Jackson Heavner, and Jevarious McElhaney.
The Ironmen took the opening kickoff, but they could not get a drive going. The Storm could not establish a drive either and were forced to punt. Landry Pruitt burst through the line to block the punt attempt and picked it up for a scoop and score. After Cole Kelly kicked the point after, Cherryville led 7-0. Stuart W. Cramer answered back quickly as Cody Alexander ran it back about 80 yards for the tying touchdown. The score was now 7-7. Both teams had good defensive stops to close out the quarter.
About midway through the quarter, the Storm struck with a long pass from quarterback Clee Phillips to Qualteau Hawkins for a touchdown, the kick was good, and Cramer had their first lead of the game, 14-7. After the kickoff, the Ironmen began their drive quickly with a 60-yard pass from Jayden Adams to Enijhae Whitworth. After making it down to around the 12-yard line, a couple of Cherryville penalties and a sack ended the drive, and the Ironmen had to punt. As the clock expired in the first half, the Ironmen stayed true to their name and stopped the Storm near the goal line. Score remained 14-7 heading into the break.
Tonight was also senior night for the band. Five seniors were recognized during the halftime break. Band members performing in their last home game were Jaci Wilson, a four-year participant; Emily Watts, a five-year member; Madisyn Hastings, who participated for four years; Tucker Gilbert, who also performed for four years; and Daniel Bredin, a five-year member. Due to the extra festivities, the band elected to perform after the game.
Stuart Cramer took the opening kickoff of the half down the field on a good drive that took a little over three minutes. It was capped off by a fake handoff that was kept by Clee Phillips for a touchdown that extended their lead to 21-7. Cherryville’s drive began to stall just before Jayden Adams threw a deep pass that Blake Wilkinson intercepted. A few plays later, Clee Phillips threw a 60-yard pass to Landon Lee to the 20-yard line. Brayden Fortenberry would punch it in from inside the five-yard line to push the Storm’s lead to 28-7.
A minute and a half into the quarter, Clee Phillips scored his second rushing touchdown of the night on a 26-yard quarterback keeper. The point after putting the Storm up 35-7. Cherryville was forced to punt, and Jayden Nolley returned the ball 50 yards for a touchdown, increasing the lead to 42-7. That would prove to be the final score. The loss dropped Cherryville to 4-5 overall and 2-5 in conference play. The Ironmen end the regular season next Friday, October 31st, against rival Bessemer City on the road.
After the game, WNN’s Mason Beam spoke with Coach Patrick Bowman. He asked Bowman to give his takeaway on the blocked punt that led to the first score of the game. “Yea, you know, special teams, obviously a big part of the game. Excited to see us get after it there and block the punt and turn it into a touchdown for us.” He reflected on how the team performed overall, “Well, you know, I thought we played a good first half. Thought our defense played very well in the first half. They kind of let it slip in the second half, and it kind of snowballed from there, obviously, but we just got to get back to work. We’ve got a big one next week, so I feel confident that our guys will attack next week and be ready to go. Like I say, man, we got to clean it up on our end, we’ve got to clean ourselves up to make sure we are the best team we can possibly be.”
Finally, he addressed what the main area of focus would be for the Bessemer City game next week. “Well, you know, offensively we’ve got to put drives together, put drives together to keep our offense on the field, and defensively, you know, I feel like we fly to the ball, but we got to get the other team on the ground. That’s the main thing, we get hats to the ball, but we have got to get people on the ground. But like I said, I feel like they’ll attack next week, and we’ll be better.”
Check out the games you missed with the full 2025 Cherryville Ironmen photo gallery!
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