Marlton, NJ –Cherokee dominated No. 4 Woodrow Wilson 35-0 for their first shutout since 2016.
The Cherokee High School football team knelt silently in their end zone as their head coach spoke.
Brian Glatz’s voice echoed on a tablet held by defensive coordinator Ryan Walsh, but they heard him loud and clear when he asked them to give him a “Hell yeah!”
“Hell yeah!” they shouted.
Glatz was in a hospital room at the University of Pennsylvania, where he’ll be for the next few weeks as he is on the last rounds of his chemotherapy treatment for lymphoma, which he was diagnosed with in May, before a stem-cell transplant follows.
The game started with a blocked punt by Ty Bartrum on Woodrow Wilson’s open possession. Osborn scored from a yard out three plays later for an early 7-0 lead.
They made it 14-0 exactly four minutes later when Osborn connected with Bartrum for a 20-yard touchdown.
With 15 seconds left in the first quarter, Brandon Boria pushes his way from the 1 to give Cherokee a commanding 21-0 advantage.
“Oh my goodness,” Osborn recalled thinking. “We’re up 21-0 and I’m like this is still the first quarter.”
The Chiefs amped up the pressure and held Woodrow Wilson quarterback Devin Kargman to 22-of-43 passing for 222 yards and an pick. Woodrow Wilson managed just 242 yards of total offense.
The defense were lights out from the start , Osborn said, as they gave up one first down in the Tigers’ first four possessions.
Toner, Matt Ellis, Dom DeChurch and Joe Gasperone were in the backfield frequently, as were others, and had Kargman on the run all game long.
“Everyone loves coach Glatz,” senior quarterback Billy Osborn said. “We just need to play every game for him because we know he’s dying to get out here.”
Friday’s effort was the championship-level performance the program’s been hoping for and had extra motivation going into the game.
“We executed exactly the way we wanted to, and everything went our way,” Cherokee senior Mark Phillips said.
