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!!!