THE GRIDIRON 9 - 2005

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High faced the undefeated Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 2 champion INDIANS of Pascack Valley in interdivisional action last Saturday and were scalped 25-7. Dan Mucha ran the opening kickoff to the 34 but the offense stalled. With our CUTTERS trailing 12-0, QB Vinnie Graff pitched to Scott Leathem who picked up a 1st down off a vicious block by Michael Barchefski. Graff then scampered 24 yards for a TD. With Stephan Macchiorola holding, the sure footed Randy Platter kicked the extra point and it was 12-7 at the half. The playoff bound INDIANS pulled away in the 2nd half. Michael Keating recovered a fumble and Kevin Ramishvili blocked an extra point kick. Josh Avilies Graff and Sean Hughes sacked the QB and Graff intercepted a pass at the Fair Lawn 1. Dominick Rizzo made a TD saving tackle on a punt return and John Macko and Tom Spear made big plays. Pascack Valley now leads the 1955-56, 1984-85 and 1988-present rivalry 11-10-1 (.524).

I could swear I saw the men in the white coats chasing me because of my rash prediction last week as I congratulated PV Coach Craig Nielsen. Coach Nielsen was the star running back on Bergenfield’s State championship team in the 1970s and coached at Fair Lawn under Pete Natale 1980-85. The ’80 CUTTERS were Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) champs with Clifton and Passaic Valley and beat Passaic 27-18 in GIANTS STADIUM in the playoffs. The ’84 and ’85 CUTTERS were NBIL Division 1 champs with the ’85 team going to the States and losing a heart breaker 36-26 to Passaic. Craig Nielsen is a class guy! His Fair Lawn friends will be rooting for his INDIANS in the North Jersey, Section 1, Group II playoffs.

In Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1, the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills roared from behind, down 19 points, to edge the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo 27-26 and take the 2005 Division 1 title. In Division 2, the BRAVES of Indian Hills beat the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 27-14. The NBIL Division 2 went 2-1 (.667) over Fair Lawn’s Division 1 as, in addition to Fair Lawn’s loss, the BEARS of Bergenfield were beaten 23-16 by the RAMS of Ramsey. Only the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley, Demarest came through for Division 1 beating the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah 20-13. The NBIL Division 1 leads the 2005 series 9-8 (.529). The GOLDEN KNIGHTS of NV/Old Tappan drew a bye.

This Friday at 1:30 Fair Lawn hosts the BRAVES of Indian Hills at SASSO FIELD in another NBIL interdivisional contest. The game was changed from Saturday because of SATs. I look forward to announcing in Fair Lawn’s new press box! Fair Lawn leads the 1984-97 and 2000-present rivalry 12-7(.632). Our CUTTERS come into the game 1-6 (.143) having been outscored 212-82 for an average loss of 30-11. Indian Hills is 3-4 (.429) and has been outscored 158-98 for an average 23-14 loss. Forget the guys in the white coats. I’m sticking with our CUTTERS who can win this one with an all out effort. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 17 (With a Randy Platter Field goal the difference) – Indian Hills 14. GO CUTTERS GO!!!