East Keeps the Boot as Goto Breaks Rushing Record

Senior running back Daishi Goto stepped on the field Wednesday night with one goal in mind: To lead his Cherry Hill East football team to a win over Cherry Hill West in the annual pre-Thanksgiving showdown.

Goto got his wish, and got something extra special to go along with it.

The Cougars senior rushed for 254 yards and two touchdowns, breaking the East single-season rushing record, in a 28-0 victory.

It marked the second-straight year East won the rivalry game, allowing the Cougars to keep the Al DiBart Memorial Trophy—the Boot—for another full year.

“I just wanted to win the game; I wasn’t focused on (the record),” said Goto. “During the half, my coach told me that I needed 110 yards, and that kind of got me a little nervous. I just took it out of my mind and played. It’s my last game, and might be the last game of my career, and I came out with no regret.”

Goto got the record thanks in part to a pair of long touchdown runs in the second half.

With the Cougars leading 7-0 early in the third quarter, Goto broke off a 30-yard touchdown run with 9:16 remaining. He followed that up with a 50-yard touchdown run on the Cougars’ next possession that put the game out of reach for West and the record within reach for Goto.

The senior tailback was fed the ball play after play on East’s next possession and broke the record with a 16-yard run with 10:09 left in the game. The run gave him 1,580 yards on the season, topping 2012 graduate Brian Regan’s mark of 1,571.

“He’s a two-way player and he doesn’t ever say two words of complaint to us,” East coach Tom Coen said. “We would tell him, ‘You’re 20 yards away’ and, ‘You’re 10 yards away,’ and his eyes just got wider and wider. It was great that he was able to do that. He worked hard and the offensive line did a great job helping him achieve that goal.”

After he broke the record, play was stopped as Goto was mobbed by his teammates.

“It’s indescribable, because everyone thought that record would stay there,” senior lineman Jonni Cassano said. “(Regan) was very talented and very fast and the class before us didn’t think we would be able to (top) that. We proved everyone wrong. We did our job. We pushed forward with confidence and got the job done.”

Blaise Paglione added a 1-yard touchdown run with 8:18 left in the game to salt away the win. Once the postgame hand shakes were complete, East players huddled up, celebrating their victory and their trophy.

“This is what it’s about,” Coen said. “We live in a community where everyone gets excited about this game regardless, so any time we can come out and win, and do so in decisive fashion like we did (Wednesday), it’s going to bring a lot of good karma heading into the offseason.”

“It’s a special game,” Goto added. “It’s our last game of the season, and I just wanted to come out with the team and win. We wanted it to be a special night, and it was, because we won.”

The game was scoreless for almost the entire first half until East grabbed the momentum with an unlikely heave.

Staitioned at West’s 44 yard line, East sophomore quarterback Brandon Stern took a snap with two seconds left in the half, rolled to his right and threw up a deep ball. Waiting on the other end was senior receiver Andrew Brown, who out-jumped West defenders Dwuane Allen and Jimmy Verzicco right at the pylon to produce the night’s loudest roar from the fans and set the tone for the rest of the game.

West was unable to get its offense going at any stage of the game, losing its third straight to end the season 4-6. East also finished 4-6, but has the added bonus of going into the offseason with a victory over its closest rival.

“I told the team in the locker room that nothing is going to make this a satisfying year unless we beat West and make it a statement,” Cassano said. “We wanted to make sure that the boot stayed on the east side of town.”

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