After losing 32 consecutive games dating back to September of 2015, Cherry Hill East football defeated Cumberland, 32–0, on Oct. 6.
Entering the 2018 season, it had been more than 1,000 days since Cherry Hill High School East had won a football game.
The Cougars entered the year having lost 28 consecutive games, with their last win coming on Sept. 19, 2015, against Northern Burlington County Regional High School. Despite it having been years since the team had won a game, new head coach Andrew Daley came into his first preseason with the program with a positive attitude, saying hard work and accountability would lead the team to success.
“As long as we’re doing the right things in the classroom, we’re doing the right things in the community and we do the right things on the field, then we’ll be successful,” Daley said.
On Oct. 6, years of heartache and frustration finally ended. After losing their first four games, the Cougars won their first game in more than three years as they defeated Cumberland Regional High School, 32–0, at home.
“The irony of it all was we had been on an 0–32 losing streak and then we won, 32–0,” Daley said. “The stars were aligned a little bit.”
“It was amazing because we know we work hard and some games we make mistakes,” senior Nick Gazzola said. “It just felt good to finally get rid of the curse, get that burden off of our shoulders and finally get that one win.”
Entering 2018, Cherry Hill East’s losing streak was tied for the longest active losing streak in South Jersey, with Wildwood High School also entering the season with 28 straight losses. Despite this, Daley said he only mentioned the streak twice this year: once at the beginning of the preseason and once prior to a road game at Princeton High School on Sept. 29.
“I said I don’t want to hear those words anymore, because it’s a negative connotation,” Daley said about the streak. “I want everything to be positive now and everything from here on out is going to be about looking forward.”
“We didn’t really mention the streak much,” senior Isaac Jean-Baptiste said. “We weren’t worried about our losses. We were worried about the potential we have.”
Even in the team’s four losses to open 2018, progress could be seen on the field. Last season, Cherry Hill East lost nine of its 10 games by at least 20 points and allowed 28 or more points in every game. In the team’s first game of 2018, the Cougars held a Triton Regional High School team that won three of its first five games to just 18 points in an 18–7 loss. Against Princeton on Sept. 29, the Cougars led early in the game and came from behind to tie the Little Tigers at 14 in the fourth quarter before Princeton won the game on a late touchdown.
“A lot of those games, we beat ourselves,” Gazzola said. “We made stupid mistakes, like fumbling or penalties. So those are things we just have to work on and film we break down that we have to work on. But we try to take the good things out of our game, like we did move the ball. We did score. So we tried to put it all together.”
On Oct. 6, Cherry Hill East put together a complete game for the first time in years. The team scored 23 points in the first quarter alone to jump out in front early. Quarterback Mitch Donovan threw for two touchdowns. Jean-Baptiste caught one of the touchdown passes for the Cougars.
“Once I scored that touchdown, we just kept going and going and going,” Jean-Baptiste said.
The Cougars led 32–0 at halftime and kept Cumberland off the scoreboard the rest of the way. When the game ended, the team sprinted down to the scoreboard for a picture to commemorate the moment.
East Wins! East Wins! East Wins!
“Parents come on the field and you can just see something special was happening because there’s kids crying, there’s parents crying, and just the relief of over three years of hard times,” Daley said about the moments following the win. “It’s been tough and it’s just a weight off everyone’s back.”
With the program’s long losing streak finally vanquished, the Cougars’ goal is to regain that feeling again. With three games remaining for Cherry Hill East this year, the seniors want to make sure the Cumberland win isn’t the only win they get to experience.
“We loved that feeling, that feeling of winning was just amazing,” Jean-Baptiste said. “I just want to keep that feeling for the rest of the season.”
