For the 50th time, Cherry Hill East and Cherry Hill West football will face off on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. and both teams have something to prove in this year’s game.
This year’s Thanksgiving Eve football game between Cherry Hill High School East and Cherry Hill High School West is a milestone matchup between the long-time crosstown rivals.
The Cougars and Lions will duke it out on the football field for the 50th time on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Cherry Hill West and fans who come out to the game will get to see two football programs that have immensely improved compared to last season. Cherry Hill West bounced back from a one-win season in 2017 to tally a 5–4 record in 2018, while Cherry Hill East snapped a 32-game losing streak earlier this year and enters the game with three wins, the most for the program since 2012.
“It’s a very heated rivalry,” Cherry Hill West senior Anthony Secouler said of the game. “It’s always back and forth. It’s always going to be a fight, no matter what, no matter what kind of season the teams had, it’s always going to be back and forth.”
“Everybody is always excited, because everyone here knows everyone that goes to West,” Cherry Hill East senior Dominic Seta said. “But this year, we feel like we have a lot better of a chance (to win).”
In the all-time series between Cherry Hill East and Cherry Hill West, the Cougars are the clear leaders, having won 31 times compared to the Lions’ 18 victories. However, Cherry Hill West has gotten the best of Cherry Hill East in recent years. The Lions have defeated Cherry Hill East five years in a row, with the Cougars’ last win in the series coming in 2012.
The seniors at Cherry Hill West have retained the Al DiBart Memorial Trophy for their entire high school careers. The trophy, simply known by many in the community as the Boot for the bronze football cleat sitting on top of the trophy, is given to the winning school each year. The Cherry Hill West seniors recognize the importance of keeping the Boot on Chapel Avenue.
“If the past years won it, we need to show everybody we’re going to win too,” West senior Jason Reyes said.
Winning Wednesday’s game would be more than just about winning the Boot for the Lions. Cherry Hill West had a strong regular season in 2018, going 5–3. Despite their record, they just missed qualifying for the South Jersey Group IV tournament. After missing the playoffs, the Lions suffered a rough 24-point loss to Moorestown High School and now enter the game against Cherry Hill East with something to prove.
“We’ re trying to prove we actually deserved to be in the playoffs,” Reyes said. “We had our time to prove against Moorestown and it was a bad loss. Now we have to show everybody we can still win.”
Cherry Hill East didn’t finish 2018 in playoff contention, but they did make huge strides in the win column. After an 0–4 start to the season, the Cougars snapped a 32-game losing streak in early October and continued to build off of that victory. Cherry Hill East enters Wednesday with some momentum, having won three of its last five games. Defeating Cherry Hill West for the first time in six years would be the perfect way to finish the season.
“We definitely want to end with a win,” East senior Mitch Donovan said. “That’s important to us. This season we went through ups and downs and we just want to finish off (with a win).”
Cherry Hill East senior Nick Gazzola added this may be the Cougars’ best chance to win the Boot in a while, saying the program is playing better now than at any point over the past four seasons.
“I feel like we’re a completely different football team than last year,” Gazzola said. “We didn’t have any wins going into last year. So now we have the opportunity to go for it.”
Regardless of the outcome, the seniors for both high schools recognize Wednesday will be their final high school football game and their last chance to play with many of their friends from around town.
“We’ve all come together as seniors,” Secouler said. “We grew up at the midget field with midget football. How we all came together in high school as seniors is a great feeling.”
Reyes said he is going to relish taking the field one final time under the lights.
“I just like the atmosphere, knowing your friends from the East side that you went to school with in middle school, playing against them is best feeling ever,” Reyes said.
After snapping a long losing streak this year, the Cherry Hill East seniors said they share a special bond and hope to end their final season together with a victory.
“We went through a lot of seasons with no wins with these guys,” Gazzola said. “Everyone here loves football and is dedicated.”
“These are the ones who stuck it out,” Seta added about his teammates. “A lot of people quit after freshman year, sophomore year. The people with us now are the ones who truly love football.”
