A large, cold crowd gathered together on Wednesday night at Cherry Hill West to witness the annual “Boot” game between Cherry Hill East’s and West’s football teams. West came into the game with a confident 7-2 record and with nothing to leave behind after being defeated by Highland in the first round of the playoffs. East looked to end on a positive note after what has been a disappointing 0-9 season.

With 9 minutes remaining in the first quarter, West connected with Chase Tinsley to give them a 6-0 lead. The score would remain until West would return an East punt for a touchdown, and with the addition of the PAT, the score became 13-0 at the end of the first.

With 6:29 left in the second, West would add again after Nick DiVietro ran in the ball for a touchdown, making the score 19-0. This score would remain until the half.

With 7 minutes left in the third quarter, West would add once again with a fumble recovery for touchdown by Lorenzo Hernandez. The score was 26-0 at the end of the third.

In the 4th quarter, West returned another punt for a touchdown to extend the lead to 33-0 with just over six minutes remaining in the match. With only 10 seconds remaining, West would add another touchdown to create the final score of the game: 40-0.

There were a few positive notes for East. Tom Tompkins (’18) was able to intercept the ball with just over 8 minutes left in the second. East would recover a West fumble with a little under 12 minutes remaining in the third. East forced a turnover on downs with 7 minutes left in the third.

East will look to take the positives and build on them next season. The Cougars finish off the season with a disheartening 0-10 record.