Cherry Hill West (2-8) defeated Cherry Hill East (1-9) 12-0 in the 40th annual Thanksgiving Day football game.

With both teams struggling to move the ball due to poor field conditions, West was able to pull through by using a duel running back system featuring Kyle Hughes (’10), (13 carries for 73 yards), and Josh Sabia (’09), (20 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown).

East struggled to move the ball offensively, and had only one real scoring chance.

Down 7-0 with about 5 minutes left in the first half, East put together a 93 yard drive to set up a 4th and goal at the 2 yard line with seconds remaining.

Sean Gold’s (’09) 35 yard run and Josh Langford’s (’09) two separate 15 yard runs highlighted the effective drive.

However, an offside penalty ensued and pushed East back to the 7 yard line, preventing the offense from attempting to score a touchdown. Andrew Pursell (’10) stepped on to attempt a chip shot field goal, but a low snap followed by an incomplete pass forced an end to the half.

East’s defense kept the team in the game throughout the second half, allowing only a field goal after 3 second half fumbles by the offense.

Coach Tom Coen said, “The turnovers killed us in the second half. Our defense was great throughout the game but we couldn’t keep the ball.”

With time running out in the fourth quarter, East was pinned back to their own goal line on 4th and 28. A high snap however led to a late safety to make the score 12-0.

East then attempted an onsides kick, but West recovered the ball and then ran out the clock.

With the loss, East has now lost 7 of the last 10 Thanksgiving Day games.

East still leads the overall series 29-11.