FAIRMONT — Fairmont football coach Kevin Inman said that senior Cameron McPhatter’s work ethic toward his craft and in the weight room was one of the best on the football team this past season, and the results from all the hard work paid off on Friday.

McPhatter signed to play football at St. Andrews University next season in a signing ceremony, after being a valuable piece for the Golden Tornadoes special teams unit this past season, handling kickoff, punting and place-kicking duties.

“He wants to be the master of his craft. … He stays focused and is dedicated in the weight room. It doesn’t matter if he’s at a rack with a lineman or a linebacker, he’s going to work as hard as anyone in the weight room,” Inman said. “I can’t tell you the last time Fairmont had a true kicker. It’s been a blessing to have him for this year.”

After transferring into Fairmont from Lumberton in the offseason, McPhatter said that signing to play for the Knights is a dream come true for him.

“It’s remarkable. Coming from a 4A school to a 2A school, it was a hard transition at first, but after a few weeks I got the hang of it and bought into the program,” he said. “I’ve wanted to do this since about middle school.”

He’s the first specialist to sign to play college football from Robeson County since Lumberton’s Connor Haskins signed to UNCP in 2012.

For the Golden Tornadoes, McPhatter was 11-for-14 on extra points this past season.

“I was a punter my freshman year and then I wanted to do more than that and be a combo kicker,” he said. “I worked every offseason and every day. I had to get my strength right, my power right and working on my technique.”

St. Andrews enters its third season of football in the fall after going 2-8 and 2-7 the last two seasons.

“I would’ve loved to have done like every high school athlete’s dream to go D1, but that’s not the main focus of my dream,” McPhatter said. “I just wanted to get to the next level by any means necessary. I had a couple D3’s looking at me, but my heart was with St. Andrews.”

His leg will be needed after St. Andrews did not have a made field goal last season and its two kickers were 20-for-28 on extra points last season.

“I loved the tradition they brought it and the chance I could have to start right away making an impact on the school and the team,” McPhatter said.

Inman said that McPhatter’s work ethic will translate on and off the field.

“He’s a hard worker and is dedicated,” Inman said. “Not only that but on the academic’s side, he’s as smart as they come. They are getting a good player.”

Jonathan Bym | The Robesonian Fairmont’s Cameron McPhatter signs to play football at St. Andrews University next season.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_file-39.jpegJonathan Bym | The Robesonian Fairmont’s Cameron McPhatter signs to play football at St. Andrews University next season.
Fairmont kicker is the county’s first to sign since 2012

By Jonathan Bym

Sports editor

Jonathan Bym can be reached at 910-816-1977 or by email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Jonathan_Bym.