Stormy Night For East Gaston As Stuart Cramer Rolls To 3-0

                You could get the feel of how the game would go early on. Even though the weather conditions at the time were calm and no stormy weather was in sight, the action on the field was a different story. Three plays and 42 seconds into the game was all it took for the Stuart Cramer Storm to set the tone. Quarterback Luke Carpenter capped off the three-play 50-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run. Devin Baldwin’s kick made it 7-0. East Gaston would contribute to their demise early. A bad snap on the punt pinned them at their own ten-yard line. But the defense would get a moral victory as the Warriors held the Storm out of the end zone. Cramer had to settle for a Baldwin 28-yard field goal to make the score 10-0.

                The Storm would continue to thwart the Warriors. The Storm got the ball back at the 50 once again. This time it only took one play to reach the end zone. Jaylen Rocquemore, Cramer’s other quarterback, ran the ball 50 yards for a touchdown. Baldwin’s kick made it 17-0. But soon, Cramer would start making mistakes. Penalties and turnovers would stop the Storm’s ensuing drives. A fumbled quarterback-tailback exchange and a muffed punt by Jaylin Truesdale kept East Gaston in the game. The Warriors would give momentum right back when quarterback Kobe Creamer was intercepted in the end zone by the Storm’s Landon Helton.

                The Storm made them pay. Early in the second quarter, Kaiser Kayton got on the board with a 24-yard touchdown run. Big plays were plenty for the Storm as Demarrick Floyd scored on a 60-yard touchdown run. The Storm did use some pass plays by their two quarterbacks, Carpenter and Rocquemore. Rocquemore connected with Ethan Lurry with a 62-yard touchdown pass. Many of those yards came after the catch.

                Down 37-0, the Warriors finally answer back. A 45-yard pass play from Kobe Creamer to his brother, Jalen Creamer, and a personal foul on the Storm set the Warriors up at the three-yard line. Kobe Creamer took it in himself on a three-yard run play to get East Gaston on the board. Caleb Hager’s extra point made it 37-7.

                The Storm stormed back with another touchdown pass. This time it was from Carpenter to tight-end Kendall Karr from 33 yards out. Baldwin was 4-for-5 on his extra point kicks in the first half. 44-7 would be the half-time score. The third quarter was a stalemate.

                Carpenter scored the Storm’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter from three-yards out and the clock started to run continuously. East Gaston was able to get one final touchdown on the board as the final seconds ticked away. Creamer scored his second touchdown of the night with a six-yard run. No extra point conversion was attempted. The final score was 51-13.

                Robert Truesdale, Caleb Clemmer, John Griffin, Dylan Collins, Denorrian Lindsay, Sam Julen and Jackson Concannon each reginstered tackles for loss for the Storm. Truesdale and Will Waddell each registered a sack while Collins and Griffin combined for a sack. Landon Helton, Gabe Washington and JyKise Booker each got an interception. Washington and Griffin each recovered Warriors fumbles. East Gaston’s Chase Blackburn registered one sack, three tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries.  Caleb Hager and Preston Osborne also had fumble recoveries.  Donnell Maultsby grabbed the Warriors only interception in the game.

                “Stuart Cramer is a good team. They have an effective offense and a defense that gets after it.” said East Gaston head coach Sean Joyce “I felt like our guys fought hard. We’re still having a hard time moving the ball. It was a combination of youth and injuries. We’ve got several injuries.”

                Chase Blackburn’s big night on defense looked to be one of the few highlights for East Gaston “Chase Blackburn makes a lot of plays defensively. He’s got a motor that does not stop.”

                “I thought our guys played hard. It’s still early in the season. We got some things to clean up and get better at. Hopefully we can do that.” Said Cramer head coach Ben McMillan “Our guys on defense are swarming around getting to the ball. Those guys got a lot of experience over there and play hard. It’s good to see them making plays.”

“I think we got a few weapons there on offense. We were able to run the ball and threw it around more tonight than we did the last couple of weeks. We got some good talented receivers but they are still kind of young so we’re still trying to break them in. Our runningbacks did a great job and our offensive line paved the way for us.”

East Gaston travels to play Lincolnton next week. Stuart Cramer has a bye week, but will be on the road for the first time this season as they travel to play cross-town rival, South Point.