Cherokee football pulls off all-time comeback against district rival Shawnee in game of the year candidate

Cherokee's Cooper Burti threw for a touchdown, ran for one, and led the Chiefs down the field during the game-winning drive as Cherokee defeated Shawnee in the football game played at Shawnee High School in Medford, New Jersey on Friday, October 3, 2025. Chris Baker/D2 Sports Network

MEDFORD - The Cherokee High School football team started the 2025 campaign off with a 2-0 start, including a blowout win over district rival Lenape.

Since that win, the Chiefs suffered three-straight losses with heavy implications. The Marlton ball club pulled out a 22-21 victory over its other district rival, Shawnee, in what is a shoo-in for Game of the Year candidacy.

A late Shawnee missed field goal set up Cherokee on its own 20-yard line with exactly three minutes left to play, trailing 21-14. The Chiefs orchestrated an 80-yard scoring drive in two minutes and 40 seconds. Tennessee baseball commit Cooper Burti led the charge, being involved in every single play on the final drive.

On the final scoring play, the Shawnee defense looked like it had held on and stuffed Burti short of the goal line when the ball came loose in the endzone. Dylan Kolinsky flopped on top of the stray leather for six, putting the Chiefs in a do-or-die scenario. Go for two? Or take the extra point and head to overtime.

Cherokee coach Shawn Divece called a timeout before the initial trick play attempt to go for two and asked his players, "Do you guys want to go for two here?"

The answer from the personnel was a resounding, "Yes!"

Cherokee converted the two-point attempt when Burti shoveled a pass to Steve Barbagiovanni wide open in the back of the endzone. The Chiefs had taken the lead and had victory in hand.

"There was no doubt we were going for two," Divece said. "It was just a matter of the personnel we were going to run out there. We were going to try and go for it out of our 'muddle huddle' point after set, but I called a timeout once I saw they had it covered. During the timeout, I called the offense over and asked 'Hey, do you guys want to go for it here? And without hesitation, they accepted the offer. I had absolutely zero doubt they'd get it done down the stretch."

Shawnee has now won six-straight matchups versus Shawnee in which is considered the most heated clash between the four schools in the Lenape Regional School District. Year in and year out, each team circles that game on the schedule against "The Blue Team" or "The Orange Team". This year was no different for Cherokee despite the losing streak heading into the matchup.

"We want to beat them every single year," Barbagiovanni, who had an interception and the go-ahead two-pointer, said. "It feels great to be undefeated against them now in my entire high school career. These always mean more, especially when we beat them on their field. It's now onto our game next week, and next year hopefully they continue the streak."

Burti finished the game 12-for-17 for 121 yards and a touchdown through the air and ran 12 times for 66 yards and a score. The Knoxville-bound junior continued to show why he's one of the better dual-threat signal callers in the region.

"The guys around me make the plays," Burti said. "I have confidence in every single guy in orange that they will make plays on offense or defense to set the other one up. When we got the ball back, I knew we were going to win. I had confidence that the line was going to block, the receivers were going to get open, and coach was going to call the right plays to lead us to the endzone."