THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – Week 4 – 2006

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1946 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS went outside the Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL), where they were heading for a co-championship with the BUCCANEERS of Bogota, to shut out the HORNETS of Passaic Valley 7-0. During 1944-46 and 1966 independently and 1967- 81 and 83 in the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) the HORNETS went 13-6-2 (.684) over our CUTTERS.

1956 – Bennett’s CUTTERS scalped the INDIANS of Pascack Valley 27-13 in the renamed Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL). Pascack Valley leads the 1955-56, 1984-85 and 1988-present rivalry 11-10-1 (.524) including last year’s 25-7 PV win.

1966 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS, on their way to a NNJIL championship, shut out the RED RAIDERS of Cliffside Park 34-0. It was the 11th game of that 24 game non-losing streak during 1964-66. Our CUTTERS took the 1959-66 rivalry against the RED RAIDERS 6-2 (.750) NNJIL action.

1976 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS were beaten 44-8 by the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High in NNJIL action. - During 1972-74 independently and 1975-81 in the NNJIL Clifton went 8-2-1 (.800) over Fair Lawn including a State playoff victory in 1979.

1986 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS went outside the NBIL to beat the MAROON RAIDERS of Englewood, representing the Bergen County Scholastic League (BCSL) American Division, 39-13. In independent action 1945-46, 1957-58 and 1986-89 and in the NNJIL 1959-71, our CUTTERS have gone 14-7 (.667) over the MAROON RAIDERS.

1996 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS scalped the BRAVES of Indian Hills 27-6 in NBIL interdivisional action. Fair Lawn leads the 1984-97 and 2000-present rivalry against the BRAVES 12-8 (.600) including last year’s 25-17 Indian Hills’ victory.

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2006-5

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, September 22, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Wildcats of Dallastown and galloped to a 69-0 shutout, surpassing the previous school record of 68 points scored in a game. The return of injured running back Tim Smith to the Mustangs lineup had an immediate impact as he recovered a Wildcats fumble at the Wildcats 35-yard line on the second play of the game. He then galloped 9-yards to the 26, Jason Gigous scampered for 21-yards to the 5, Smith took it to the 3, Eric Updegrove took it to the 2 and Smith plunged in for the score.

The Wildcats then went three and out and punted to the Mustangs 33-yard line. Donnie Brady scampered to the Wildcats 42-yard line and Mustangs quarterback J. C. Laughman lofted a perfect 42-yard touchdown pass to Kory Yelton. Jason Gigous then recovered a Wildcats fumble at their 37 and Laughman immediately lofted a beautiful touchdown pass to Drew Snyder. The Wildcats garnered a first down and then punted to the Mustangs 32-yard line. A 13-play drive, featuring a 14-yard run by Gigous and an 11-yard run by Aaron Repman, ended in a 5-yard touchdown run by Updegrove. Dan Brenneman passed to Jesse Smith for a 2-point conversion to overcome an earlier missed extra point and the Mustangs led 28-0 in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter Jesse Smith intercepted a Wildcats pass and returned it 24-yards to the Wildcats 23-yard line. Brady scampered to the 10 and Tim Smith scored from there to up the score to 35-0. The Mustangs started another drive on their 37-yard line after a Wildcats punt and 5 plays later John Bingham scored on a 15-yard run and the score at the half was 42-0.

The Wildcats kickoff for the second half failed to go 10-yards and the Mustangs took over on the Wildcats 49-yard line. Six plays later Seth Barnes scored on a 2-yard run. Shortly thereafter Drew Snyder recovered a Wildcats fumble and returned it 33-yards to the Wildcats 2-yard line, and Chris Helwig punched it in to up the score to 56-0. Lybrant Polk then intercepted a Wildcats pass and returned it 33-yards for a Mustangs touchdown and the score after three quarters was 62-0.

By this time the Mustangs had already emptied their bench. 73 players were dressed for the game and all of them got in at one time or another. Josh Smarowsky recovered a Wildcats fumble and an 8 play 36-yard drive led to a 7-yard touchdown run by Pete Kudla to close out the scoring for the Mustangs.

Jason Gigous and Tim Smith led the Mustangs with 6 tackles each, followed by John Bingham, Chad LaGore and Josh Smarowsky with 5 each, Jesse Smith and Jason Sneeringer with 4 each and Donnie Brady, Chris Helwig, John Neiderer, Brandon Nicastro, Duane Rowlette and Chris Wilson with 3 each. A host of Mustangs registered 1 or 2 tackles.

Snyder registered the fumble recovery and had a pass breakup and a pass hurry, Gigous had the fumble recovery, Tim Smith had the fumble recovery and 2 pass breakups, and Smarowsky had a fumble recovery. Lybrant, and Jesse Smith had the interceptions. Seth Barnes had a pass breakup, and John Bingham, Chad LaGore and Jason Sneeringer each registered a sack for the Mustangs.

Chris Helwig returned a punt for 12-yards and Jason Gigous returned one for 12-yards. Drew Snyder kicked off 7 times for 346-yards, including a touchback, and Ryan Laughman kicked off 3 times for 120-yards, with the longest going for 44-yards. Snyder punted once for 38-yards.

Bryan Bosley, Donnie Brady, Dan Dukes, Jason Gigous, Corwyn Gordon, Chad LaGore, Dale Mills, Cody Shue, Jesse Smith, Jason Sneeringer, Drew Snyder, Eric Updegrove and Chris Wilson manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Seth Barnes, Duane Rowlette, Tim Smith, Mike Stremmel and Kory Yelton patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 292-yards rushing and 116-yards passing for a total of 408 yards of offense. J. C. Laughlin completed 5 of 12 passes for the 116-yards and 2 touchdowns, including 2 for 53-yards and a touchdown to Drew Snyder, 1 for 42-yards and a touchdown to Kory Yelton, 1 for 18-yards to Jesse Smith and 1 for 3-yards to Eric Updegrove. John Bingham led the rushing attack with 4 carries for 48-yards and a touchdown, followed by Aaron Repman with 6 for 38, Donnie Brady with 2 for 38, Eric Updegrove with 8 for 37 and a touchdown, Jason Gigous with 3 for 37, Tim Smith with 5 for 26 and 2 touchdowns, Travis Scott with 3 for 26, Pete Kudla with 2 for 16 and a touchdown, Ryan Laughman with 2 for 8, J. C. Laughlin with 1 for 7, Chris Helwig with 2 for 6 and a touchdown, Seth Barnes with 2 for 5 and a touchdown, Justin Barnes with 2 for 4 and Mike Brant with 1 for 2-yards. Dan Brenneman and Zac Scott each rushed for minus yardage.

The Dallastown Wildcats gained 27-yards rushing as Keegan McAuliffe had 5 carries for 19-yards, followed by Cory Witmer with 5 for 11, Zack Huff with 3 for 7, Mike Baker with 1 for 3, Revoyca Haynes with 1 for 3, Cleve Glass with 1 for 1-yards, and Kole Kraut and Kevin Frisby each ran for minus yardage. Frisby completed 8 passes for 52-yards and Gary Prum completed 1 for 15-yards. Andrew Le led the Wildcats receivers with 4 catches for 31-yards, followed by McAuliffe with 2 for 14, Craig Ricks with 1 for 15 and Prum with 1 for 10-yards.

The 120 member strong South Western Mustang Marching Band and the 18-member Mustang Cheer Leading squad were both very impressive crowd pleasers. The 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champion, a 2000 Tournament of Bands Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion Mustang Marching Band provided the post-game entertainment with the 2006 musical program entitled “Colourful Rythms,” which featured musical themes from the Millennium Celebration at Epcot Center, including “Time Prologue,” “Chaos,” “Life” and “Celebration.” Then followed the main theme from the Cirque du Soleil production, “Journey of Man” and “Tribal Mustang.” Band Night also saw the 125 member strong 7th and 8th grade Marching Band perform several numbers before the game, and they were joined by the Mustangs Marching Band for a stirring salute to all of the branches of the Armed Services. The over 200 member strong Wildcats Marching Band also entertained the halftime crowd with a rousing performance with the theme “Phantom of the Piano Studio.”

The Mustangs of South Western are 3-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 157-63-1 (.714) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 298-181-8. The results of the 487 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .622 winning percentage and a .628 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs continue league play and visit the Rockets of Spring Grove. The Rockets are coming off of a 27-14 loss to the Lions of Red Lion. From here it looks like the Mustangs have found the groove and should continue galloping along on the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 4 - 2006

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High lost a heart breaking thriller 21-14 to the RAMS of Ramsey last Friday in a Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) interdivisional game. Kevin Ramishvilli recovered a fumble and QB Mike Barschefski uncorked a pass to Tommy Spear who raced 67 yards for a TD. With Barchefski holding, Sam Sierra kicked the point after and our CUTTERS led 7-0. After Ramsey tied the score at 7, our heroes hung on. Yuval Bussi, Nick Graff and Dom Rizzo were making great hits and Matthew Brunetti got off some booming punts. Rizzo and Randy Tomlin stopped the Rams on 4th down deep in Fair Lawn territory and Joey Visaggio’s interception ended the half. In the 2nd half Andrew Jaquez, Dan Mucha, Barschefski, Rizzo and Spear made big plays but after an interception, Ramsey went ahead 14-7. Our “never-say-die” CUTTERS roared back! Barschefski passed to Graff who made a circus catch for a 34 yard gain. When Ramsey got the ball back, Ramishvilli blocked a punt and Barschefski fell on the ball in the end zone. With Barschefski holding, Sierra’s kick tied the game at 14. The RAMS went ahead 21-14. With time running out Barschefski threw passes to Spear and Mucha for first downs. The RAMS batted down a 4th down pass intended for Spear and held on for the heart stopping victory. Fair Lawn still leads the 1945-58, 1984-99 and 2002-present rivalry by an astonishing 28 games to 7 (.800)!

Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 went 0-2 against Division 2 as, in addition to Fair Lawn’s loss, the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest were beaten 13-6 by the BEARS of Bergenfield. Division 2 leads the 2006 race 4-1 (.800)! In Division 1 the undefeated PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills demolished the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 49-0 and the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan beat the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo 13-7. In Division 2 the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah scalped the BRAVES of Indian Hills 34-6. The INDIANS of Pascack Valley had their bye.

This week our CUTTERS play host to NV/Demarest in a 1:30 game at SASSO FIELD in NBIL Division 1 action. Fair Lawn leads the 1956-58 and 1990- present rivalry 12-7 (.632). Both teams come into the game 0-3. Fair Lawn has been outscored 97-28 for an average 32-9 loss while NV has been outscored 54-29 for an average loss of 18-9. Our CUTTERS played tough against Ramsey and they figure to take their disappointment at the loss out on the NORSEMEN. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 14 – NV/Demarest 10. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – Week 3 – 2006

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1946 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS, on their way to Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) co-championship with the BUCCANEERS of Bogota, beat the then MIGHTY MITES (now BEARS) of Bergenfield 19-12. Fair Lawn leads the 1945-48 and 1962-present rivalry 33-15 (.688) and the 1994-present Turkey Day rivalry 9-3 (.750).

1956 – Bennett’s CUTTERS went outside the B-PIL to shut out the COLTS of Paterson Central and the now defunct Passaic Valley Conference (PVC) 19-0. - Paterson Central was the Turkey Day rival of the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside and most Fair Lawn students attended Eastside before FLHS opened in 1943. During 1951-56 and 58 Fair Lawn went 5-2 (.714) over Central. In 1988 the successor KNIGHTS of Paterson Kennedy beat our CUTTERS 20-6 in the States at Hinchliffe Stadium while, in the 2003 State “Consolation Game,” our CUTTERS prevailed 20-0 to bring their record against Central/Kennedy to 6-3 (.667).

1966 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS notched 10 in what would become a 24 game non-losing streak 1964 – 66 edging the MAROON RAIDERS of Englewood 14 – 13 in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action. In independent action 1945-46, 1957-58 and 1986-89 and in the NNJIL 1959-71, our CUTTERS have gone 14-7 (.667) over the MAROON RAIDERS.

1976 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS were stung 53-0 by the HORNETS of Passaic Valley in NNJIL action. During 1944-46 and 1966 independently and 1967- 81 and 83 in the NNJIL the HORNETS went 13-6-2 (.684) over our CUTTERS.

1986 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS were shut out 7 – 0 by the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 action. Fair Lawn leads the 1984 – present rivalry 14–9 (.609) but the GOLDEN KNIGHTS have won the last 5 games.

1996 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS beat the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest 24-7 in NBIL Division 1 action. Our CUTTERS lead the 1956-58 and 1990- present rivalry 12-6 (.667).

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2006-4

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, September 15, the Mustangs of South Western visited the Thunderbolts of Littlestown and came away with a hard earned 14-3 victory. The first half ended with a scoreless tie as the defenses reigned supreme. Seth Barnes intercepted a Thunderbolts pass at the Mustangs 34-yard line to stop a drive, and he batted down 3 passes that could have continued drives for the Thunderbolts. Jesse Smith intercepted another Thunderbolts pass in the second half to seal the win. The Mustangs Drew Snyder recovered a fumble by the Thunderbolts at the Mustangs 30-yard line and Duane Rowlette recovered one at the Mustangs 25-yard line to stop 2 Thunderbolt drives.

The second half started off as a continuation of the defensive struggle as the Mustangs punted after three and out. The Thunderbolts finally got untracked and mustered a 14-play 54-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard field goal by Charlie Hunt midway through the quarter. The defensive struggle then continued and a couple of sacks by the Thunderbolts, one by Adam DeGroft, held the Mustangs in check.

Early in the 4th quarter the Mustangs started a drive at the Thunderbolts 45-yard line after a punt by the Thunderbolts. Quarterback J. C. Laughlin lofted a beautiful 40-yard pass to Drew Snyder at the 5-yard line and 2 plays later Eric Updegrove plunged in from the three and the Mustangs took a 7-3 lead after Snyder’s extra point kick at the 10:51 point.

Snyder’s kickoff went for a touchback and the Thunderbolts ended up punting to the Mustangs at the 49-yard line of the Thunderbolts. Jason Gigous gained 2-yards, Aaron Repman lost 3, and a penalty put the ball on the Thunderbolts 45-yard line. Donnie Brady ripped off a 25-yard run to the 20, Gigous added 9 more yards to the 11, and Brady gained 2 more to the 9. Repman scampered to the 1 and then scored on a 1-yard plunge. Snyder’s extra point kick upped the score to 14-3 with 7:23 left in the game.

Snyder registered another touchback on the kickoff and each team ended up punting after three and outs. The interception by Jesse Smith at the Thunderbolts 35-yard line with 2:52 left in the game sealed the victory for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs were playing without the services of running backs Tim Smith and Shawn Rider, both out with injuries, and overcame that with their talented bevy of running backs.

Jason Gigous led the Mustangs with 20 tackles (no, that is not a typo, he had 11 solo tackles and 9 assists), followed by Jesse Smith with 12 tackles, Jason Sneeringer with 10, Drew Snyder with 9, Chris Wilson with 8, Duane Rowlette with 7, Chad LaGore and Mike Stremmel with 6 each, Bryan Bosley, Corwyn Gordon and Cody Shue with 5 each, Seth Barnes with 4, Dan Dukes with 3, Eric Updegrove with 2 and Donnie Brady and Dan Brenneman with 1 each. Barnes also had the interception and 3 pass breakups, Smith had his interception and Rowlette and Snyder had their fumble recoveries. Brady and Stremmel were each credited with a pass breakup. Gigous, Updegrove and Wilson were each credited with hurrying a pass and Chad LaGore was credited with causing a fumble by the Thunderbolts.

Seth Barnes returned a kickoff for 16-yards and Jason Gigous returned 2 punts for 26-yards, with the longest going for 25-yards. Drew Snyder kicked off 3 times for 178-yards, including 2 touchbacks. He punted 6 times for 195-yards, for a 32.5-yard average, with the longest going for 40-yards.

Bryan Bosley, Donnie Brady, Dan Dukes, Jason Gigous, Corwyn Gordon, Chad LaGore, Dale Mills, Cody Shue, Jesse Smith, Jason Sneeringer, Drew Snyder, Eric Updegrove and Chris Wilson manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Seth Barnes, Duane Rowlette, Mike Stremmel and Kory Yelton patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 102-yards rushing and 72-yards passing for a total of 174 yards of offense. J. C. Laughlin completed 4 of 12 passes for the 72-yards, including 2 for 31-yards to Jesse Smith, 1 for 40-yards to Drew Snyder and 1 for 1-yard to Donnie Brady. Jason Gigous led the rushing attack with 8 carries for 35-yards, followed by Donnie Brady with 6 for 32-yards, Aaron Repman with 8 for 20, including a 1-yard touchdown, Eric Updegrove with 6 for 14, including a 3-yard touchdown, Seth Barnes with 1 for 2-yards and J. C. Laughlin with 6 for minus 1-yard.

The Littlestown Thunderbolts gained 126-yards rushing as Brian Zelanko had 23 carries for 70-yards, followed by Cory Beaver with 17 for 46-yards, and Luke Reichart with 6 for 10-yards. Reichart completed 9 passes for 99-yards. Nate Murren led the Thunderbolts receivers with 2 catches for 43-yards, followed by Cory Beaver with 2 for 18, Kameron Armacost with 2 for 16, Jordan Staub 2 for 13, and Jeramey Justice with 1 for 9-yards.

The Mustangs of South Western are 2-1-0 overall and 0-0-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 156-63-1 (.712) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 297-181-8. The results of the 486 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .621 winning percentage and a .628 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs begin league play and host the Wildcats of Dallastown at the Mustang Corral. Dallastown is coming off of a 20-13 victory over the Bulldogs of West York. From here it looks like the Mustangs are set to continue galloping along on the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 3 - 2006

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High ran into a juggernaut known as the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills, arguably the best public high school team in North Jersey, and lost a 49-6 Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 game last Saturday. They have nothing to be ashamed of. Indian Hills lost 55-7 to the PATRIOTS opening week and it’s probable that nobody is going to beat Wayne Hills this year. Team Captains Dan Mucha, Dom Rizzo and Tommy Spear went out for the coin toss and our heroes put up a fight. The undefeated PATRIOTS didn’t score until nearly 6 minutes into the game. Then they rolled leading 35-0 at the half. Our CUTTERS played hard and gave their fans some thrills. Ahmet Basci faked a punt and threw an incomplete pass toward Spear that drew a flag giving Fair Lawn a 1st down. Mike Barchefski and Basci sacked the QB and Basci ran an interception back to the 33. At QB, Barchefski picked up a key 1st down behind center Mike Capone. Yuval Bussi, Sergio LaPlaca, Lasha Malazonia, Kevin Ramishvilli, Rizzo and Melkis Rosario made big hits. Joey Visaggio made a TD saving tackle. He saved the best for last though. With Nick Graff at QB late in the game Joey took a pass in the flat and, with sheer determination, bulled his way through defenders for a 75 yard TD as our “never-say-die” CUTTERS averted a shut out. The PATRIOTS lead the 1984-present rivalry 18-5 (.783). Fair Lawn’s last victory was in 1989 as Mike Alberque’s NBIL Division 1 champion and playoff bound CUTTERS blasted Wayne Hills 35-8.

In the other NBIL Division 1 game the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands surprised the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo 7-3. In Division 2 the INDIANS of Pascack Valley scalped the BRAVES of Indian Hills 41-13 and the RAMS of Ramsey edged the BEARS of Bergenfield 12-6. Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 saw its NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest edged 16-13 by the Division 2 THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah giving Division 2 a 2-1 (.667) lead in the 2006 series. The GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan went outside the NBIL thrashing the KARDINALS of Kearny 48-8.

This Friday at 2 p.m. our CUTTERS travel to Ramsey to take on the RAMS for the 35th time. Fair Lawn leads the 1945-58, 1984-99 and 2002-present rivalry by an astonishing 28 games to 6! So many close games over the years have gone Fair Lawn’s way, including last year’s thrilling 14-13 Fair Lawn victory, that the snake bitten RAMS almost feel as though they just can’t beat our CUTTERS. Let’s drive that point home again Friday with lots of fans cheering our heroes on!

Fair Lawn comes into the game 0-2 having been outscored 76-14 for an average loss of 38-7. Ramsey has played one game winning 12-6. Fair Lawn opened against two of the toughest NBIL teams. With an all out effort, our CUTTERS can win some games now. There’s no time like the present to get back on the winning track. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – Ramsey 6. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2006-3

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, September 8, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Warriors of Susquehannock at the Mustang Corral and galloped through the mud for a convincing 37-0 victory. Jason Gigous started the show with a 59-yard kickoff return that led to a 29-yard field goal by old reliable Drew Snyder, the school record setting 15th of his career.

Shortly thereafter Jesse Smith got into the act by blocking a Warriors punt and recovering it in the end zone for a touchdown and the Mustangs jumped on top 9-0. Donnie Brady then got into the act with a 4-yard touchdown run to up the score to 15-0. Jesse Smith blocked another Warriors punt and that lead to J. C. Laughlin’s 19-yard touchdown run. Drew’s extra point kick made the score 22-0 near the end of the first quarter.

The Mustangs were playing without the services of running backs Tim Smith, Aaron Repman and Shawn Rider, all out with injuries, and overcame that with their talented bevy of running backs. Eric Updegrove joined the carnage with a 48-yard touchdown scamper in the second quarter and the halftime score was 28-0 in favor of the Mustangs.

Chris Wilson, with help from Chad LaGore, recorded a safety in the third quarter and Brady closed out the scoring with his second touchdown, a 15-yard scamper. Drew’s extra point kick made the final score 37-0. The over 35-point lead kept the clock running for the rest of the game and the Mustangs cleared the bench.

Zach Hagerman recovered a fumble and returned it 4-yards, Seth Barnes intercepted a pass and Duane Rowlette intercepted a pass and returned it 55-yards for the Mustangs. Rowlette also was credited with 2 pass defenses and Josh Rummel and Jesse Smith were each credited with a pass defense. Brian Bosley, Chad LaGore, Scott Raubenstine, Jason Sneeringer and Drew Snyder were in on sacks for the Mustangs. Jason Gigous led the Mustangs with 10 tackles, followed by LaGore and Snyder with 7 each, Chris Wilson with 6 and Seth Barnes with 5. Matt Ferguson, Sneeringer and Mike Stremmel each had 3 tackles and a host of other players recorded one or two.

Seth Barnes returned a kickoff for 42-yards and Gigous returned the one for 59-yards. Barnes also returned 2 punts for 13-yards, with the longest going for 10-yards. Drew Snyder kicked off 7 times for 320-yards, including a touchback. He punted 4 times for 166-yards, for a 41.5-yard average, with the longest going for 47-yards.

Bryan Bosley, Dan Dukes, Jason Gigous, Corwyn Gordon, Chad LaGore, Dale Mills, Cody Shue, Jesse Smith, Jason Sneeringer, Drew Snyder, Eric Updegrove and Chris Wilson manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Seth Barnes, J. C. Laughlin, Duane Rowlette, Mike Stremmel and Kory Yelton patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 200-yards rushing and 16-yards passing for a total of 216 yards of offense. J. C. Laughlin completed 1 of 5 passes for the 16-yards, to Jesse Smith. Eric Updegrove led the rushing attack with 9 carries for 91-yards and a touchdown, followed by Donnie Brady with 6 for 39-yards and 2 touchdowns, Jason Gigous with 6 for 34, J. C. Laughlin with 3 for 33 and a touchdown, Bryan Shanklin with 1 for 6, Seth Barnes with 1 for 3-yards, and Justin Barnes, Dan Brenneman and Travis Scott each rushed for minus yardage.

The Susquehannock Warriors netted minus 12-yards rushing as Dan Dixon had 4 carries for 15-yards, followed by Mike Kelly with 8 for 10-yards, and Josh Heyne and Patrick Miller each had minus yardage rushing. Heyne completed 8 passes for 61-yards and Miller completed 3 for 41-yards. Kelly led the Warriors receivers with 3 catches for 20-yards, followed by Dustin Connor with 3 for 19, Billy Kehr with 1 for 19, Aaron Hansen with 1 for 18, Dixon with 2 for 17, and Corey Shelton with 1 for 9-yards.

The Mustangs of South Western are 1-1-0 overall and 0-0-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 155-63-1 (.711) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 296-181-8. The results of the 485 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .621 winning percentage and a .627 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs visit the Thunderbolts of Littlestown. Littlestown is coming off of a 24-7 loss to the Rams of Kennard-Dale. From here it looks like the Mustangs are raring to gallop and expect to keep up their winning ways. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY WEEK 2 – 2006

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1946 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS, on their way to a Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) co-championship with the BUCCANEERS of Bogota, mauled the BEARS of Hawthorne 32-6. - Independently in 1944 and in the (B-PIL) 1945-55, our CUTTERS went 9-3 (.750) over the BEARS. When Hawthorne, then the only Passaic County school in the league, left in ’56, the league was renamed the Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL).

1956 – Bennett’s ’56 CUTTERS drew a bye.

1966 – Frank Deven’s CUTTERS thrashed the COMETS of Hackensack 46-6 in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action. It was game 9 of that 24 game non-losing streak during 1964-66. During 1959-82 in the NNJIL the COMETS went 16-7-1 (.696) over our CUTTERS. In 1959, Fair Lawn’s maiden season in the league, our CUTTERS won 27-6 and yet saw Hackensack take the title by half a game. Frank Bennett’s 1953 B-PIL champs shared the North Jersey, Section 1, Group III State title with the COMETS. Mike Alberque’s 2000 CUTTERS put up a whale of a battle before losing 14-6 to the nationally ranked COMETS in the States.

1976 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS were beaten 33-12 by those same COMETS of Hackensack.

1986 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS, having returned to the NBIL in 1984 and taken the Division 1 title in ‘84 and ’85, beat the RAIDERS of Ramapo 28-7 in league play. Natale would go 4-0 (1.000) against Ramapo Coach Mike Mielo. Ramapo leads the 1956-58 and 1984-present rivalry 15-10 (.600).

1996 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS were lassoed 34-21 by the COWBOYS of Pascack Hills in NBIL interdivisional play. During 1984-86 and 1994-98 our CUTTERS have gone 6-2 (.750) over the COWBOYS.

THE GRIDIRON 2 - 2006

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High came out like a house on fire last Saturday and led the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan 8–0 at halftime in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 action! Dom Rizzo recovered a fumble in the end zone. Yuval Bussi sacked the QB and Sergio LaPlaca, Lasha Malazonia, Kevin Ramishvilli, Melkis Rosario and Tommy Spear were making hellacious hits. Spear recovered a fumble. The GOLDEN KNIGHTS then showed just a little too much hubris! Overconfident, they went for it on 4th down near midfield only to be met by Mike Barchefski for a big loss. Barchefski passed to Joey Visaggio who scampered to the 2 but penalties moved our CUTTERS back. No matter. Barchefski passed to Ahmet Basci to the 11. The drive ended with Visaggio plunging for a TD to put Fair Lawn up 6-0. With Barchefski looking like he would hold for Sam Sierra’s extra point kick, he took the snap and darted around left end for 2 points and Fair Lawn led 8-0.

In the second half the GOLDEN KNIGHTS’ size began to show. Andrew Jaquez and Spear made TD saving tackles and Barchefski stopped a 2 point conversion run and broke up a 2 point conversion pass attempt. Despite our CUTTERS’ heroic effort Northern Valley won a 27-8 game that for quite a while was a thriller. Fair Lawn leads the 1984 – present rivalry 14–9 (.609) but the GOLDEN KNIGHTS have won the last 5 games.

The Class Of 1956 was in town for their 50th reunion. A third of them were at the game including members of Coach Frank Bennett’s 1955 Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) championship team on which my twin brother, Bill, and I were “Water Boys.” Don Landzettel presented FLHS Principal James Marcella with a class gift of $5,000 to be used for academic scholarships over the next 5 years!

The NBIL realigned slightly for 2006 as the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands moved from Division 2 to Fair Lawn’s Division 1 while the BEARS of Bergenfield moved from Division 1 to Division 2. The Fair Lawn – Bergenfield Thanksgiving Day game will be an interdivisional affair now. In the other NBIL Division 1 game Northern Highlands’ debut was a success surprising the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest 25-10. In Division 2, the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah ruined Bergenfield’s debut 35-14. Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 went .500 against Division 2 as the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills scalped the BRAVES of Indian Hills 55-7 while the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo were scalped 14-7 by the INDIANS of Pascack Valley. The Division 2 RAMS of Ramsey drew a bye.

This Saturday our CUTTERS are home at SASSO FIELD against the defending NBIL Division 1 and North Jersey, Section 1, Group III champion PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills who have a 16 game winning streak going. The PATRIOTS lead the 1984 – present rivalry 17-5 (.773). Fair Lawn’s last victory was in 1989 when Mike Alberque’s NBIL Division 1 champion and playoff bound CUTTERS crushed Wayne Hills 35-8. The 1984 – 1993 Thanksgiving Day rivalry wound up 5-5 (.500) as Fair Lawn won 4 out of the first 5 and Wayne Hills won 4 out of the next 5.

Wayne Hills comes off a 55-7 thrashing of Indian Hills and Fair Lawn comes off a 27-8 loss to NV/Old Tappan. I know our CUTTERS will give it their all but it looks like nobody is going to beat the awesome PATRIOTS this year. I think our heroes will put up a battle royal and keep it a lot closer than Indian Hills did. Let’s all be at SASSO FIELD to cheer them on. I hope I’m wrong but, from here it looks like Wayne Hills 28 – Fair Lawn 21. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2006-2

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, September 1, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Warriors of Gettysburg and lost 20-13 in a thriller that had plenty of excitement for both sides, despite the persistent rain from tropical storm Ernesto. This one boiled down to the Evan Lewis and Storm Woerner show. Lewis, a junior, completed 7 of 11 passes for 165-yards and his favorite receiver was Woerner, who caught 4 passes for 136-yards, including touchdowns of 62 and 49-yards. Just to add a little variety, R. J. VanBrakle scored on a 37-yard run for the Warriors.

The Mustangs actually got off to a very good start and completely dominated the first half, holding the Warriors to 14 yards of offense and racking up 114 yards themselves as they went into halftime with a 10-0 lead. It all started when Tim Smith intercepted a pass by the Warriors at the Mustangs 35-yard line. After a seven play drive, featuring runs of 5-yards by Aaron Repman and 9-yards by Eric Updegrove, senior kicking sensation Drew Snyder calmly booted a 50-yard field goal to give the Mustangs a 3-0 lead with 5:02 left in the first quarter. Snyder had already set a school career distance record for a field goal with a 47-yarder last year and already held the school record for number of field goals in a career with 12.

A Warriors punt gave the Mustangs the ball on their 39-yard line. An 11 play 61-yard drive, featuring a 3-yard pass from Laughlin to Eric Updegrove, runs of 12, 7, 3, 4 and 1-yards by Tim Smith and runs of 9, 10, 0 and 7-yards by Updegrove and a 5-yard run by Laughlin, ended in Smith’s one yard touchdown plunge. The accurate foot of Drew Snyder kicked the extra point and the Mustangs led 10-0 with 7:09 to go in the half.

The third quarter belonged to the Warriors as they figured out a way to hold off the blitzing Mustangs just long enough to let Evan Lewis crank up his passing game. Most of their 165-yards passing came in that quarter. The Mustangs opened the second half with a drive from their 39-yard line to the 36-yard line of the Warriors and it looked like they were off to the races again. Brian Irwin then intercepted a Mustangs pass and 2 plays later Evan Lewis connected with Storm Woerner on a 62-yard bomb for a touchdown. Lewis kicked the extra point and the score was 10-7 in favor of the Mustangs.

The Mustangs next drive stalled and they punted to the Warriors. On a 5 play 71-yard drive Lewis again connected with Woerner, this time on a 49-yard touchdown strike. The extra point attempt failed and the Warriors took the lead 13-10. Although R. J. VanBrakle was held to 59-yards rushing on 13 carries, he ripped off a 37-yard touchdown run near the end of the third quarter and the extra point kick by Lewis put the Warriors up 20-10.

The never say die Mustangs fought on and began a drive on their 40-yard line after Chad LaGore partially blocked a punt by the Warriors. Ten plays, featuring a 22-yard pass from J. C. Laughlin to Kory Yelton, a 3-yard pass to Aaron Repman, and runs of 9 and 3-yards by Laughlin, runs of 0, 4, 1 and 0-yards by Repman, and runs of 9 and 3-yards by Laughlin, put the ball on the 11-yard line of the Warriors. Drew Snyder then booted a 28-yard field goal, upping his school record of field goals in a career to 14, with 6:33 left in the game to close out the scoring.

Aaron Repman returned 2 kickoffs for 36-yards, with the longest going for 22-yards, and Eric Updegrove returned one for 12-yards for the Mustangs. Repman also returned 2 punts for 23-yards, with the longest going for 16-yards, and Jason Gigous returned a punt for 6-yards. Drew Snyder kicked off 4 times for 214-yards, including two touchbacks. He punted 5 times for 192-yards, for a 38.4-yard average, with the longest going for 48-yards.

Jesse Smith, who had 11 tackles and 2 sacks for the night, led the Mustangs defense, followed by Chris Wilson with 10 tackles and a sack, Jason Gigous with 8 tackles, Eric Updegrove with 6 and Corwyn Gordon with 5. Aaron Repman and Chad LaGore each had 4 tackles and Dan Dukes also contributed a sack for the Mustangs.

Bryan Bosley, Dan Dukes, Jason Gigous, Corwyn Gordon, Chad La Gore, Dale Mills, Cody Shue, Jesse Smith, Jason Sneeringer, Drew Snyder, Eric Updegrove and Chris Wilson manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Seth Barnes, J. C. Laughlin, Aaron Repman, Duane Rowlette, Tim Smith and Mike Stremmel patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 206-yards rushing and 42-yards passing for a total of 248 yards of offense. J. C. Laughlin completed 5 passes for the 42-yards. Aaron Repman (3-yards), Tim Smith (7-yards), Drew Snyder (7-yards), Eric Updegrove (3-yards) and Kory Yelton (22-yards) each caught a pass. Tim Smith led the rushing attack with 16 carries for 98-yards (including a 1-yard touchdown), followed by Eric Updegrove with 10 for 63-yards, Aaron Repman with 10 for 31-yards, J. C. Laughlin with 8 for 13-yards and Jason Gigous with 5 for a yard.

The Gettysburg Warriors rang up 57-yards rushing and 165 yards passing for a total of 222 yards gained. Evan Lewis completed 7 passes for the 165-yards. Besides the 136-yards to Woerner, Justin Jones (17-yards), Sean Manahan (6-yards) and Zach Michael (6-yards) each hauled in a pass. R. J. VanBrakle led the Warriors rushing attack with 13 carries for 59-yards (including a 37-yard touchdown), followed by, Cody Trail with 4 for 6-yards, Justin Jones with 1 for 2-yards, and Evan Lewis with 8 for minus 10-yards.

Gettysburg hopes to be a contender in the Capital Division of the Mid Penn Conference. The Mustangs are still hoping to do the same in Division I of the YAIAA this year.

The South Western Mustangs and Gettysburg Warriors Marching Bands were not able to march due to the weather, but both appeared and energetically played for their teams during the game. The 20-member Mustangs Cheer Leading squad was very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 0-1-0 overall and 0-0-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 154-63-1 (.710) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 295-181-8. The results of the 484 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .620 winning percentage and a .626 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs host the Warriors of Susquehannock at the Mustang Corral. Susquehannock opened the season with a 47-12 win over the Rockets of Spring Grove. The Mustangs played good offense and great defense in the first half and gave up three big plays in the second half of their season opener. They are looking to resume their winning tradition. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY Week 1 – 2006

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1946 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS, on their way to a Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League B-PIL) co-championship with the GOLDEN BEARS of Lyndhurst, opened their season with a 13 -0 independent loss to the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL MAROON RAIDERS of Englewood. During 1945-46, 57-58 and 1986-89 independently and in the NNJIL 1959-71, Fair Lawn went 14 – 7 (.667) over Englewood.

1956 – Bennett’s CUTTERS opened their season with a 13-12 independent loss to the NNJIL HIGHWAYMEN of Teaneck. During 1954-58 independently and 1959-82 in the NNJIL, our CUTTERS went 17-11-1 (.607) over those HIGHWAYMEN.

1966 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS notched game 8 in a 24 game non-losing streak, stinging the HORNETS of Passaic Valley 33 – 0 in NNJIL action. During 1944-46 and 1966 independently and 1967- 81 and 83 in the NNJIL the HORNETS went 13-6-2 (.684) over our CUTTERS.

1976 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS were mauled 26-6 by the BEARS of Bergenfield in NNJIL action. Fair Lawn leads the 1945-48 and 1962-present rivalry 33-15 (.688) and the 1994-present Turkey Day rivalry 9-3 (.750).

1986 - Pete Natale’s CUTTERS beat the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 14 – 3 in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) interdivisional action. The 1986-93 and 1998 – present rivalry is all even at 8-8 (.500). Fair Lawn travels to Allendale to take on the HIGHLANDERS November 4th.

1996 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS opened their NBIL Division 1 season with a 39-7 loss to the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo High. Ramapo leads the 1956 - 58 and 1984 - present rivalry 15-10 (.600).

THE GRIDIRON 1 - 2006

By Dick Engelhardt

It’s great to be back on THE GRIDIRON again as The CUTTERS Of Fair Lawn High begin their 64th season with a record of 293-260-14 (.530). It all started September 13th, 1943 when FLHS opened without seniors, who stayed at Paterson Eastside, Hawthorne and Ridgewood to graduate in 1944. Coach Marty Fischbein led the CUTTERS to a fine 9-4-2 (.682) record in independent action in 1943 and 44 after starting up with 3 JV games. Some called the new team the COMETS because they scored quickly in their first game (A 7-6 loss to Lodi), and others called them the CLIPPERS. Then, before the Leonia game, team captain Jack Van Olden led Tony DiNegri, Art Jaeggi, Jack Knowles, Al Livingston and Bill Perkins on a sneak trip to the Rivoli Theater in Paterson to see a movie during school hours. The miscreants were caught and coach Fischbein kept those “cutters” out of the game. With the LIONS up 12-0 he put our heroes in and Fair Lawn roared back to win 13-12. The student body, having chosen Crimson and Gray as the school colors, now insisted the athletic teams be known as “The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High.” And so it is 63 years later!

In 2002, Greg Tanzer, a 1976 FLHS grad, became the 9th head coach. He had been defensive coordinator the previous 2 years and was also an assistant under Coach Pete Natale 1983–85. He followed Marty Fischbein (1943–44), Frank Bennett (1945–60), Ed Sheehy (1961-64), Frank Devens (1965–71), Al Reinoso (1972–74), Rich Szura (1975–77), Pete Natale (1978–87) and Mike Alberque (1988–2001). Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) championships came under Bennett in 1945, 1946 (with the BUCCANEERS of Bogota), 1947 (with the GOLDEN BEARS of Lyndhurst), 1953 and 1955. Bennett’s 1953 B-PIL champions featured Dave Sime, who became the “World’s Fastest Human,” and shared the North Jersey, Section 1, Group III State championship with Hackensack. Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) championships came in 1965 and 1966 under Devens and 1980 (with the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High and the HORNETS of Passaic Valley) under Natale. In 1984 Fair Lawn returned to the Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (the B-PIL had been renamed the NBIL in 1956), which our CUTTERS had left in 1959. Natale’s CUTTERS took the Division 1 title in 1984, 1985 and 1987. Albergue’s 1989 CUTTERS took the NBIL Division 1 title too. The football playoffs began in 1974 and Fair Lawn was in them under Natale in 1979, 1980, 1985 and 1987. Alberque got the CUTTERS into the States in 1988, 1989 and 2000. What a thrill it was to see Bennett, Devens and Sime among the initial inductees into the Fair Lawn High Hall Of Fame in August! As “The Voice Of The CUTTERS,” I was privileged to present 1959 star Bob Wright and 1965 and 66 star Bruce Jankowski for induction.

Fair Lawn opens the season Saturday at 1:30 at SASSO FIELD against Northern Valley, Old Tappan in NBIL Division 1 action. The “Home Of The CUTTERS” is named after Fair Lawn High School athletic director, teacher and vice principal (1944-78), Virgil G. “Virge” Sasso, who was also in the initial group inducted into the Hall Of Fame. Fair Lawn leads the 1984 – present rivalry 14–8 (636) but the GOLDEN KNIGHTS have won the last 4 games. Our CUTTERS have hopes for a successful season and want to start it off with a victory against a strong foe. Let’s all be at SASSO FIELD cheering them on. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – NV/Old Tappan - 14. GO CUTTERS GO!!!