THE GRIDIRON 13 – 2005

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High and the BEARS of Bergenfield battled tooth and nail Thanksgiving Day with no “quit” in either team. At the end the BEARS came out on top 31-24 in this Northern Bergen interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 thriller. The BEARS took an interception 63 yards for a TD and led 6-0. A 37 yard field goal had them up 9-0. QB Vinnie Graff threw a 56 yard TD pass to Tom Spear and Fair Lawn closed to 9-6. Bergenfield scored again and led 16-6. Then Graff passed to Scott Leathem who rambled 8 yards for a TD. With Stephan Macchiorola holding, Randy Platter’s extra point kick made it 16–13. The Fair Lawn crowd was electrified as Platter and Macchiorola teamed up for the field goal I had predicted, a 32 yarder, to tie the game at 16. The BEARS went ahead 24-16 on a TD and a two point conversion run necessitated by the fact that their kicker had been shaken up when Macchiorola partially blocked his punt. Our CUTTERS roared back to tie it at 24 when Leathem ran 34 yards for a TD and Graff passed to Spear for the 2 point conversion. The BEARS scored once more and held on for the victory

On “D,” John Macko recovered a fumble and the front line of Josh Aviles, Billy Burns, Sean Hughes, Macchiorola and Macko, did yeoman work. Michael Barchefski, Michael Keating, Dominick Rizzo, Graff. Spear and Eric Menist made big plays. The “O” line of Burns, Amet Basci, Dan Kissane, Chris Liptrot, Tim Schofield and Dan Schwartz opened holes. Fair Lawn still leads the 1945-48 and 1962-present rivalry 33-15 (.688) and the 1994-present Turkey Day rivalry 9-3 (.750).

In the other NBIL Division 1 game the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley, Old Tappan beat the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley, Demarest 26-14. The PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills were preparing for their Group III final in GIANTS STADIUM against the VIKINGS of Parsippany Hills. In the NBIL Division 2 the INDIANS of Pascack Valley beat the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 26-19 and the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah beat the RAMS of Ramsey 21-6. In interdivisional action the Division 1 GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo blasted the Division 2 BRAVES of Indian Hills 34-13. Fair Lawn’s Division 1 went 12-11 (.522) over Division 2 for the year. Going into the Wayne Hills playoff final game, the NBIL leads other leagues 11-4 (.733) on the year.

As they look ahead to 2006 our CUTTERS will miss Aviles, Burns, Graff, Hughes, Keating, Kissane, Leathem, Michael Liptrot, Macchiorola, Macko, Menist, Platter, Schofield, and Schwartz. With guys like Joe Acuna, Basci, Chris Liptrot, Barchefski, Dan Mucha, Kevin Ramishvili, Rizzo, Chris Skibinski and Spear possibly returning, our CUTTERS could be strong. Coach Tanzer and his staff need every student who can play to turn out so Fair Lawn, the largest Group III school in North Jersey, Section I, can take the field with as many players as the other NBIL schools, all of which have fewer students. If that happens, Fair Lawn will once again be a powerhouse. I can hardly wait for our CUTTERS to open the ‘06 season at SASSO FIELD against Northern Valley, Old Tappan. Until then, GO CUTTERS GO!!!