Thursday, November 5, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - Excitement is building as the Cherryville Ironmen prepare for their first-round NCHSAA 2A playoff game Friday, November 6, 2006, when they host the Buckin' Elks of Elkin High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm at Rudisill Stadium in Cherryville, NC. There are many sports writers and coaches across the state who believe this Ironmen team can make a deep postseason run. Although the ultimate goal is to be playing on championship weekend, December 10-12, Coach Patrick Bowman has kept his team focused on one game, one week at a time all season. He and his staff have done a great job of keeping the players focused on each game and resisting the temptation to look beyond easier teams. In several post-game interviews with Wise News Network, Coach Bowman has stated that he always chooses his guys. The team has bought into this philosophy as Bowman has built a culture of winning in just three seasons. The coaching staff's confidence in the players has helped them build confidence in themselves. It will take more than just confidence to keep playing until December. Fortunately, Cherryville is blessed with many playmakers at skill positions, giving them an opportunity as long as they execute their game plan each week.
Many of the Ironmen play both offense and defense. Many of the names mentioned each week in reports are of offensive playmakers, but none of that happens without the men in the trenches. The blue-collar workers who do the heavy lifting and dirty work every play. Those are the guys who play offensive and defensive lineman positions. They seldom get any glory or have their names called, yet without them the team falters. The 2026 Ironmen have been known for their explosive offense, but standouts on defense, such as Maddox Carrigan, Austin Shoemake, and Landry Pruitt, help hold the opposition in check.
This season, Cherryville has scored three touchdowns in less than 5 minutes, twice. Again, this starts with the guys up front giving the plays time to develop. Quarterback Jayden Adams has had a breakout season, throwing for 1945 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions. He has also rushed for 199 yards and 3 touchdowns. The two-headed running monster of Jackson Heavner and JJ McElhaney has been a formidable force. Heavner is the north-south-style runner who runs over and through defenders and, once he finds a crease, turns on the jets. He rushed for 1078 yards and 11 touchdowns despite only playing in 6 games. McElhaney is more of a dash-and-slash runner who is very dangerous as a receiver out of the backfield or lined up in the wildcat formation. He has 512 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns. Add in receivers Enijahe Whitworth and Elijah Proctor, and there is an explosive mix for high-scoring games. Whitworth has caught for 594 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Proctor has 533 yards and 7 touchdowns.
There were not many statistics available for Elkin. Based on the information available through MaxPreps, leaders for the Buckin' Elks are Brayden Vestal at quarterback, Maze Teague at running back and outside linebacker, Sloman Speer at wide receiver and cornerback, Bryson Whitley at wide receiver, Kameron Hall at middle linebacker and tight end, and Cannon Blevins at tight end and defensive end. Unfortunately, stats for their full season were not available.
Elkin finished 8th in the Mountain Valley 2A/3A/4A conference with a 0-7 record and an overall record of 2-8. They averaged 5.9 points per game, totaling 59 points during the season. They allowed 377 total points for an average of 37.7 points per game. The only common opponent they share with Cherryville is North Stokes, whom they defeated 30-6. There were 5 games in which Elkin did not score.
Cherryville finished 5th in the Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A conference with a 5-5 record and an overall record of 6-4. The Ironmen averaged 37 points per game, scoring 370 points while allowing 300 for an average of 30 points per game. Cherryville beat the common opponent, North Stokes, 41-6.
On paper, Cherryville has a distinct advantage, especially having played defending state 3A champion Shelby and powerhouses Lincolnton, Burns, and Stuart W. Cramer. The game is not played on paper, though, so the Ironmen need to prepare for Elkin the same as they would for one of the big four from the Southern Piedmont Conference. Cherryville will need to score early and create a big lead. Elkin has not scored many points throughout the season, and falling behind early would be detrimental. Although the Ironmen have scored many points and done so very quickly, Elkin will need to contain the Cherryville running game so they can concentrate on stopping the passing game.
Cherryville has scored many more points than Elkin, but both teams have given up a similar number of points. Elkin will need to find a way to slow down the Ironmen scoring machine and figure out a plan to score more points than their season average. Basically, the keys to the game seem to come down to Cherryville continuing to put up big numbers on the scoreboard and Elkin preventing it. Whichever team accomplishes their goal will travel to Alleghany to face the Trojans in round two.
2026 marks 100 years since Cherryville High School began playing football. The first team took the field in 1926. Those early teams were known as the Cherries, before then-Gaston County School Superintendent and Cherryville native Hunter Huss coined the term "Ironmen" for the 1934 team. The moniker stuck and eventually became the school's mascot. Records prior to the modern era (1972 NCHSAA and 2004 MaxPreps) are not readily available or verifiable. Based on known records, the 1934 team was awarded co-champions of the Western North Carolina High School Athletic Association after an officiating error in the game with Morganton, which Cherryville won 6-2, almost resulted in a replay of the entire game. Because Cherryville had only 11 healthy players and the appeal process was lengthy, it was not replayed. The winner was to play Lexington for the state championship, but officials decided to name Cherryville and Lexington as co-champions. That team is the only undefeated CHS football team with a record of 7-0-3. The following season, Cherryville lost their only game in the WNCHSAA championship game against Newton. The 1935 team finished 7-1. In the modern era, the Ironmen have made the playoffs 20 times before this season, winning 4 and losing 20. A win Friday would be the first back-to-back seasons with playoff wins in school history.
Several team and individual records are within reach for the Ironmen. As mentioned, they are attempting to record the first back-to-back playoff wins in school history. They also could tie or break the record for most wins in a season; no Cherryville football team has posted more than 7 wins in a season. According to available records, this has happened 5 times: 1934 7-0-3, 1935 7-1, 1953 7-3, 1977 7-3, and 2018 7-5. The most points scored in a game occurred on 8-22-25 against North Stokes in a 68-8 victory.
Jayden Adams is eyeing a few individual passing records. The junior quarterback is 357 yards away from tying Grant Henderson's 2014 record of 2302 passing yards in a season and 5 passing touchdowns away from tying Ben Lastra's 2003 passing touchdown record of 28 touchdowns. He is also unofficially the 4th-all-time leader in passing yards, having just surpassed Grant Henderson's record of 2854 set in 2013-2014. Adams has 3033 career passing yards unofficially (official numbers will not be available until the season concludes). He only needs 301 yards to move into 2nd place over Kent Bowen 3332 (1996-1998), and Ben Lastra 3334 (2001-2003).
Adams is also closing in on career passing touchdowns as well. He has 34 in his career and has just passed Grant Henderson (2013-2014) at 31 to take over 4th place. Kent Bowen (1996-1998) is in 3rd with 37, and Cameron Lovelace (2005-2007) has the all-time career record of 46. Jackson Heavner is also attempting to land in the rushing record books. Jayden Blanton set the all-time rushing yardage and touchdown record in 2018. He amassed 1400 yards and 23 touchdowns. Heavner currently has 1078 yards and 11 touchdowns. While the touchdown record would require a very deep run into the playoffs, the rushing yards record is very attainable. He is 323 yards away from breaking the record and has been averaging 179.7 yards per game, so expect to see a little added motivation for the senior running back.
There will be plenty on the line Friday night, under the lights, in Rudisill Stadium. The Ironmen's chase for history kicks off at 7:30 pm.
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