Thursday, October 1, 2026
®
The World's Local News Source®
Cherryville, NC (WNN) - The Cherryville Ironmen came up big in a conference win over East Gaston on Friday, October 10th, in Rudisill Stadium. A standing room only crowd was on hand for the home team, with the visitors' stands close to half full. The football field had a special homecoming paint scheme for the game and festivities in each endzone. Everyone was pumped for the game and looked forward to seeing a Queen crowned at halftime.
The teams wasted no time getting the action started as the Cherryville New Years Shooters fired the muskets to open the game. Cherryville received the opening kickoff, which Jackson Heavner returned to the East Gaston 20-yard line. The Ironmen were looking for an early score; however, the first play from scrimmage resulted in a fumbled handoff and was recovered by East Gaston. Mari Chambers blasted through the line for a 23-yard pickup that ended close to midfield. The Warriors slowed down and milked the clock on the extended drive. Twice, they picked up first downs on quarterback sneaks on fourth down. Deep in CHS territory, quarterback Logan Furr corralled a high snap and ran it in to put East Gaston in the lead 7-0, with only 3:37 left in the quarter. Enijhae Whitworth took the kickoff to just over midfield. Jackson Heavner took the bulk of the workload. JJ McElhaney ran out of the wildcat formation to close to the 5-yard line. Jackson Heavner then took the direct snap on the following play in for a touchdown. The score was tied 7-7. The game clock was down to about 1 minute left in the first quarter. As Cherryville kicked off, Chris Leavy returned it to the Ironmen's 30-yard line.
As the second quarter began, East Gaston had a 4th and 6. After a holding penalty, they were back up and forced to punt. The Ironmen were unproductive and punted to the Warriors. Tyler Dalton intercepted a Logan Furr pass, giving CHS the ball back. Jayden Adams ripped off a huge run; however, it was negated by a holding penalty. Jackson Heavner got the penalty yardage back on an option run. Elijah Proctor pulls in a huge pass at the one-yard line two plays later. Running out of the wildcat, Jackson Heavner bulled his way into the endzone, putting the Ironmen in the lead 14-7. One play after the kickoff, Landry Pruitt put a big hit on the East Gaston runner, forcing a fumble that Elijah Proctor recovered for the Ironmen. A big reception was made by Korey Makupson, followed by another Elijah Proctor reception at the one-yard line. For the second time on the night, Jackson Heavner ran in from the one, scoring his third touchdown overall on the night. The East Gaston Warriors could not move the ball as the final seconds on the clock ticked away. At the half, Cherryville Ironmen 21, East Gaston Warriors 7.
There was an extended halftime due to homecoming festivities. Raylei Gidney was crowned as the 2025 Cherryville High School Homecoming Queen. If her name sounds familiar, she is one of the driving forces on the Lady Ironmen volleyball team. Due to homecoming, the marching Ironmen postponed their performance until after the game.
After the opening kickoff appeared to be returned 80 yards for an East Gaston touchdown, a holding penalty wiped the score off the board. Cherryville's defense stiffened and held them in check, forcing a punt. Neither team could put together a scoring drive in a fast-moving third quarter. After three, Cherryville still led 21-7. In the fourth quarter, Cherryville attempted to drive and put the game away. An errant snap went over the head of Jayden Adams and was picked up for a scoop and score by East Gaston, reducing the lead to 21-14. The Ironmen put together a promising drive, highlighted by two big catches from Enijahe Whitworth of 27 and 17 yards. The Warriors tightened up on defense and forced a field goal attempt. They were able to block Cole Kelly's kick and took over at their own 25-yard line. Only 1:47 remained in the game, but it would be full of action. East Gaston moved down the field. Things got a little tense when the Warriors moved deep into CHS territory. A pass into the endzone resulted in a defensive pass interference call against Cherryville. The penalty in high school is 15 yards. There was no time left on the clock, but the officials did add one second back. The last play was a pass broken up by the defense, preserving the Cherryville Homecoming victory as the muskets fired, closing the game. The win improves the Ironmen to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the conference. Jackson Heavner had a huge night with 142 yards and three touchdowns. Enijahe Whitworth and Elijah Proctor both made some huge receptions. The Ironmen travel to Burns next Friday night, October 17th.
Ironmen Head Coach Patrick Bowman
After the game, WNN's Rusty Wise got some reactions from the coaches and some players. Coach Patrick Bowman said, "We are proud of our boys. I felt like they played hard. Nobody quite does homecoming quite like Cherryville does. A lot is going on, and a lot is being focused on the game. We had a good week. You know, I thought we played well. Obviously, there were some things we could work on, but overall, I'm proud of them. Ready to get on a little roll." Speaking on some penalties and mistakes, "yeah, you know, feel like we stalled out a little bit, especially in the second half. Gotta quit shooting ourselves in the foot. I feel we are a pretty good football team when we put it all together. Right now, you know, sometimes we get stalled out a little bit and get ourselves in some trouble with our own mistakes. So, we'll be back to work, obviously, with next week, you know, and hats off to East Gaston, too. You know that's a good football team; he's got some momentum going over there, he's got his kids playing hard. You know they make good plays too, so we'll get back to work, try to improve, but definitely proud of our guys for getting the win tonight. Coach Bowman added this about having a winning record and improving on last year's win total, "yes sir, you know, I talk to our guys every week, you know win the week, win the week and see where we're at at the end. Obviously, we did that one right, and we'll be on to next week and try to win that one as well." Asked about injuries, Bowman said "yeah you know we're going to see about JJ, see how JJ's doing on Monday through the week, other than him I think we are okay right now and hopefully and be full force for us next week too. Coach asked his players to go watch the band to show them respect for their hard work as well. He mentioned he was proud of the band for winning awards last week and winning their competition.
#8 Korey Makupson
Next up was #8 Korey Makupson. He was asked about how he felt about the game. "Just proud of my guys, man they came out here and they give it their all. So, we deserve it." When asked about any changes to preparation for tonight he responded, "Coaches went a little hard on us because we lost last week, you know they expect us to win these games. Coach Bowman says, you dominate when you are supposed to dominate, when you play good teams, you find a way to win." He reflected on how they would address mistakes, "you know mistakes happen, but we can bump them down a little bit. Tonight was, I think tonight was perfect."
Rusty asked what Korey was thinking when they had one play left with no time. "When I went out there to give them water during the time out, people were wanting to come out, and I told them I just need you for one more play just give me your all for one more play and that's what they did."
#10 Enijahe Whitworth
10 Enijahe Whitworth was next to speak, asked how he was feeling on this big night he said, "I'm glad we got a win and I'm feeling good." When asked about if this was a special game he replied, "yes sir. We wanted to make sure we won for the seniors it's their last season so last time they will ever be in high school, so make sure we get the win for them and it feels good." Looking ahead, "we are going to keep practicing hard, make sure we do what we got to do ourselves right."
#5 Jackson Heavner
5 Jackson Heavner gave his thought on the victory, "I think it was absolutely amazing, you know the o-line did their job, defense did their job, and we had some ups and downs but at the end of the day we came out with the win. That's all that matters." When told about his big numbers for the night he had this to say, "yes sir, I did, JJ got hurt and I did what he would do for me, and I had to show out for him and the whole team. You know we needed this win bad." He was quick to give credit for his monster performance to his teammates, "the o-line helped like crazy tonight, something was in them that struck a fire, it was absolutely amazing to see them play great and just keep fighting no matter what." He went on to say that with the homecoming crowd, there was no way to lose and let them down. They had to make sure the crowd went home happy. He added that he was back 100%, felt great and was ready to go back next week as well. He said they would fight every week and try to keep getting better.
LeeRoy Montgomery
For more than 4 decades, a very dedicated man, LeeRoy Montgomery, has been on the sidelines for the Cherryville Ironmen. It's not Cherryville football without LeRoy. Rusty Wise was able to speak with him following the game. He gave his thoughts on how he felt after the game. "I feel good, a big win. We needed a big win, and we got one tonight. Everybody played hard and did their job tonight." He continued to say that everyone did their job tonight, like they did in practice. LeRoy couldn't leave without saying, "Go pack! Go Ironmen and Go Pack!"
LeeRoy Montgomery being interviewed by WNN's Rusty Wise - Game 7 Homecoming - Cherryville vs. East Gaston - Rudisill Stadium - October 10th, 2025
Mason Beam (WNN)
Coach Austin Treadway
Receiver Coach Austin Treadway was asked about how he thought the night went, "we battled to the end, you know some things didn't go our way, but the guys kept fighting, and they showed a lot of resiliency and pulled it out, it's a good win."
AD Matt Powers
Matt Powers, Athletic Director of Cherryville High School, also gave his thoughts. "Yeah, it was a good win. A full team win, everybody doing their part, that is what is awesome about it." Reflecting on a big turnout on a chilly night, he said, "Homecoming, in October, good football weather, and the community comes out to support this event, you know it's about the football game, it's about the homecoming young ladies, and it's about all those folks that are involved in it. I mean, our whole school, all day long, it's been a great day from coming in with their spirit, a great prep rally, super student participation, super staff participation. It really felt like an awesome week and I'm glad it culminated with this coaching staff and these young men winning a ball game like they did." When asked about the tight ball game, "yeah and you know you've got to tip your hat to those guys, they're trying to do the same thing that every high school team is trying to do, work on building their culture, work on building their program one step at a time. I hope that is what this conference is all about. This whole process is all about building kids and giving them the best chances that they have and playing the game of football a good, clean way, you know, there weren't a lot of penalties tonight, it was a good, clean football game, and that's what you want to see on a Friday night." He praised the other teams at Cherryville for the great success of cross country and volleyball. The tennis and soccer teams are growing and improving. He said they are all moving in the right direction. He mentioned too what great coaches CHS has, as well as people who want to be a part of these kids' lives, they do the most important thing of building the culture and program with the community and the adults in the building, with the kids being all one unit. He summed it up, "This whole Friday night experience is a part of everything, it's the band, it's athletics, it's our staff, it's all of it, and that's important. Our administrations are still here. Our principal and Assistant Principal are still here. There are a lot of places you go, and they are the first out the door, and these guys are here with their families."
QB Jayden Adams
2 Quarterback Jayden Adams was the last interview of the night. He was asked what he thought the keys were to tonight's win: "I think the key was really just our energy, like our energy was really high tonight. We had really high energy in practice all week, and then coming to the game. We also made a couple of mistakes but then we got momentum after that first drive then we went from there." Jayden was asked to talk about the tight finish, "well the thing was in practice all week, I didn't practice defense at all, then when JJ got hurt, they called my name, so I had to do what I had to do. We were all nervous, but we all had to lock in the moment." When asked about winning in front of a large home crowd, "Oh, it was great. The crowd had high energy, and we had high energy. We did it for the city, it was great." He went on to say they don't want to settle for this win; they will practice hard and get ready for Burns.
Finally, a barber shop was set up at the endzone. Ironmen offensive line coach William Manning agreed to have his full head of hair shaven off if the Ironmen won the homecoming game. In just a few minutes, he was bald. And that, my friends, is a Cherryville High School Homecoming Game.
WNN will soon have complete video and photo footage of the 2025 CHS Ironmen Homecoming Football Game! Check back soon and see the photo gallery at the top of this article.
