Photos: Cherry Hill East Football Falls to Washington Township

Twice, the Cherry Hill East Cougars found themselves inside the Washington Township 5-yard line with a chance to take the lead.

Twice, the Cougars came up empty.

And on the heels of that second miss, the Minutemen struck back, scoring on a wild drive to take a 12-7 lead on their way to a 40-13 victory over East Saturday.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Cougars, who now head into their bye on shakier footing, as far as the playoff race goes. East had been sitting in sixth place in South Jersey, Group 5—but Washington Township was one of several teams close behind.

The Cougars got another strong rushing performance from Daishi Goto, who amassed 221 yards and two touchdowns, but they had little answer on defense for Washington Township's Tom Hildebran, who put together 228 yards of passing and four touchdowns—three through the air and one on the ground.

A playoff berth is still a possibility for the Cougars, but the field should be much tighter coming out of the bye. Millville, Egg Harbor Township and Southern Regional are all within striking distance, and even Rancocas Valley has an outside shot at one of the final spots.

East has one game remaining before the cutoff, against Cherokee on the road Nov. 2.