Saturday, October 3, 2026
®
The World's Local News Source®
Cherryville, NC (WNN) - The Cherryville Ironmen defeated the West Lincoln Rebels 49-22 on the road on October 2, 2026. This was the first victory against the Rebels since November 6, 2009. Cherryville relied heavily on the battering ram running of Jackson Heavner, who rushed for 253 yards on 21 carries and scored 3 touchdowns. J.J. McElhaney also had multiple touchdowns as he scored one rushing and one in the air. The Ironmen were back at full strength tonight with the return of some key playmakers, and it showed as they returned to their explosive offense.
This season, the Ironmen had their bye week midway through the season and currently have a winning record. Cherryville is 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A Conference. The much-improved football Ironmen have already played 2 of the 4 powerhouse teams in the conference, with Stuart W. Cramer and Burns left on the schedule. Cherryville jumped out to an early lead against Lincolnton, only to run out of gas in the conference opener, and scored twice versus Shelby despite missing their top two offensive weapons and the team's second leading tackler. Cautiously optimistic is the mode for the remainder of the season. The win over West Lincoln puts them on track to improve on their 5-5 regular season record from a year ago.
Coach Patrick Bowman has been building a culture of winning since his arrival 3 seasons ago. He has instilled a mentality of aiming to be 1-0 after each week. In other words, focus on only one game at a time, string together enough 1-0 weeks, and you have a winning season. A new weight room was added to the campus of Cherryville High School during the off-season. Having a fitness facility on campus has made it easier to work on conditioning and strength. That, along with a regular hydration routine and a running program, has improved endurance, as many players must play both offense and defense.
The Ironmen have been blessed this season with several high-octane playmakers. Cherryville has been explosive on offense. Despite only scoring 13 points against Shelby, Cherryville averaged 35.6 points per game coming into the contest against West Lincoln. The 49 points in this game have increased that average to 38.3 points per game. The offensive scoring has been led by Jayden Adams, passing for over 1000 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions. Elijah Proctor has scored 9 touchdowns, J.J. McElhaney 8, and both Jackson Heavner and Enijahe Whitworth have 6 touchdowns each thus far in 2026. The Ironmen were ranked 14th out of 46 in 2A before this contest. This bodes well for their post-season seeding in the state playoffs in November.
Cherryville received the opening kickoff, which J.J. McElhaney returned to their own 35. Jackson Heavner sprinted 39 yards to the West Lincoln 25. After a penalty and a bad snap, J.J. McElhaney scored on an 8-yard run from the wildcat formation. A bad snap on the point after attempt resulted in a missed kick and a 6-0 Cherryville lead. The Rebels bobbled the kickoff, and Cherryville recovered at the Rebels' 42. The 5 play 42-yard scoring drive was capped by a Jackson Heavner 17-yard run followed by a successful 2-point conversion. Leading 14-0, the Ironmen forced West Lincoln to turn the ball over on downs deep in Cherryville territory. A heavy dose of Jackson Heavner fueled the 88-yard, 5-play scoring drive that ended with a 26-yard pass to Enijahe Whitworth. The Cole Kelly kick increased the Cherryville lead to 21-0. Early in the second quarter, J.J. McElhaney recovered a West Lincoln fumble at Cherryville's 34. One play later, Jackson Heavner had bulled his way downfield on a 66-yard scoring scamper and a 28-0 lead after the Cole Kelly kick. West Lincoln again turned the ball over on downs, this time at their own 48. Jackson Heavner would again score on a long run, this time for 35 yards. A bad snap resulted in an aborted kick attempt, but Cherryville still had a comfortable 34-0 lead. The Rebels had a big kick return to Cherryville's 34. Six plays later, Axel Beatenhead scored from 19 yards out on a counter trey play, which was popularized in the 1980's by then head coach Joe Gibbs of the Washington Redskins. At halftime, Cherryville led 34-7.
The Ironmen kicked off to West Lincoln to open the second half. The Rebels fumbled the kick after a hard hit from Landry Pruitt, and it was recovered by the Ironmen. A 7-yard pass from Adams to McElhaney increased the score to 42-7 following a 2-point conversion. The Rebels closed out the third quarter with a 49-yard run from Dre Jeffries; the extra point cut the lead to 42-14. The fourth quarter began with a scoring drive of 9 plays, covering 56 yards. Elijah Proctor scored on a rushing play, and Jayden Adams made the kick after for a 49-14 lead. Paxton Hood scored a West Lincoln 45-yard touchdown run with the final seconds ticking down, and after a two-point conversion, the final score was Cherryville 49, West Lincoln 22.
After the game, WNN's Rusty Wise interviewed Coach Bowman and several players to get their take on the game win and ways to prepare and improve for next week's matchup at East Gaston.
He gave his thoughts on how the night went and what the win means to the team and community. "Well, you know this is a very important game for us. Obviously, they're a good football team, a well-coached football team. I'm very proud of our guys, man, they attacked well. That's a physical football team, and I felt like we did a good job being just as physical. I'm very proud of our guys. One of the best parts about being at Cherryville is the community you are involved in every day, couldn't be more proud or more happy for our town. Hopefully, we can enjoy tonight and get back to work next week." When asked about penalties and improvements he responded, "They've been excited all week. Like I said, it's a big game for them. They've been excited all week. Like I said, proud of them. Sometimes get a little fired up, catch a flag here and there. Obviously, got to clean up some mistakes, but will get back to work. I couldn't be more proud of our guys. Yeah, I mean, every coach is going to say we got to get better, and we obviously got to get better, got to go to East Gaston. We got to prepare for, coaches get back to work this weekend, we got to keep this momentum rolling on through the rest of the season." He also commented on Jackson Heavner's big night. "He's a big-time kid, man, you know, having him back is a blessing for us. As we talk about all the time, a lot of playmakers on offense couldn't be more proud of them."
His comments on the night. "Yes, sir, I'm really proud of my guys. You know they came out hot, scored first, I couldn't be more proud." He reflected on the play of his teammates, "shoutout to Jackson, he was running the ball great today, he did awesome, our line they did great. I mean it was a team effort; we all did good. I'm really proud of my teammates and coaches. We have really good coaches, and they prepared us all week, and I'm just so grateful." He was asked about beating West Lincoln for the first time after a long drought, "yeah, we took that kind of personal, we haven't beat them in years. That's all we thought about all week and just pushed through. We knew we were going to come out with the win." His thoughts on the penalties, "yeah, everybody was talking out there. You know, just emotions were high."
He gave his thoughts on the game. "Definitely had more stamina, I think the later the season gets, the more endurance we build and are able to go longer. We still have one or two more on turf; it's going to be fun. I think we are getting better on it." When asked about the penalties he expounded, "I had one myself, I screamed in his face, but I was just hyped, you know." He also gave his thoughts on what they could improve upon. "We definitely need to work on defense; we had a few holes and not giving up the big plays. If we can lower than then I think we will be fine."
He was asked about what he thought contributed to his production tonight. "Practice and Coach Bowman. My coaches taught me everything I know, so I just translate out here." He expressed his feelings on the team's energy tonight. "They were talking crazy for two weeks, and they kept talking and talking. We told them we were going to come out here different and this ain't the same ole Cherryville, so we had to come out and show them." He went on to express how he could improve. "I need to work on hitting the holes harder and quicker, so give my line time to build so they can do their job better, so I can do my job better.
Next, Cherryville will make a trip to East Gaston on October 9. Only four regular-season games remain. Each one is important for playoff RPI (rating percentage index) and seeding. Coach Bowman is not thinking of that yet, as he has his team focused on taking each game one game at a time, and everything else will fall into place. The Ironmen are enjoying their 4-2 record and looking forward to a chance to improve.
For further WNN articles and news stories, visit https://wisenewsnetwork.com
For more WNN video news stories, visit YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wisenewsnetwork
Contact WNN at newsdesk@wisenewsnetwork.com
North Carolina Press Association Member
©️Copyright 2026 Wise News Network. All rights reserved.
