THE GRIDIRON 5 - 2006

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High lost a 6-0 heart breaker to the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest last Saturday in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 action. Sam Sierra kicked off to the NORSEMEN and Mike Barchefski recovered a fumble ending the NV drive. The defensive battle was on and Barchefski was a veritable warrior on the field making key stops He almost picked off a pass late in the game in a play that might have resulted in a TD and a 7-6 Fair Lawn victory. Nick Graff nearly picked off a pass too and Ahmet Basci, Sergio LaPlaca, Dan Mucha, Dom Novielli, Kevin Ramishvilli, Eric Savvides and Mina Youssef made big hits. The NORSEMEN led 3-0 on a field goal at the half. Barchefski handed off repeatedly to Joey Visaggio who picked up key yardage but our CUTTERS constantly found themselves in poor field position after their first two drives. With the NORSEMEN up 6-0 after a 2nd field goal, our CUTTERS started their last drive on their own 20. With Visaggo slashing through defenders and Dom Rizzo and Graff running they moved the ball to mid-field when the NORSEMEN intercepted a pass at their own 20 enabling them to run out the clock. Our CUTTERS still lead the 1956-58 and 1990- present rivalry 12-8 (.600).

The shut out loss was the 77th in Fair Lawn High history while our CUTTERS have shut out their opponents 81 times. The last shut out loss was 48-0 at the hands of the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills last year while Fair Lawn’s most recent shut out victory was 20-0 over the KNIGHTS of Paterson’s JFK High in State consolation action in 2003. Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 went 1-2 (.333) against Division 2. The PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills mauled the BEARS of Bergenfield 42-0 but the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo lost 21-16 to the RAMS of Ramsey and the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan lost 28-27 to the INDIANS of Pascack Valley. Division 2 leads the 2006 race 6-2 (.750). The THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah brought the NBIL record to 2-0 against other leagues shocking the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) BULLDOGS of Bergen Tech 27-6. The BRAVES of Indian Hills and HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands had their Bye week.

This Saturday our CUTTERS are home at Sasso Field against the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo in another NBIL Division 1 game. Ramapo leads the 1956-58 and 1984-present rivalry 15-10 (.600). Fair Lawn’s last victory was in 1995 when Ramapo (Now Tampa Bay Buccaneers) QB Chris Simms was a freshman. Both teams are 0-4. Their common opponent, Ramsey, beat Fair Lawn 21-14 and Ramapo 21-16. Ramsey took an intentional safety to run off the final seconds against Ramapo and the GREEN RAIDERS didn’t earn those extra 2 points. So Fair Lawn and Ramapo are very evenly matched. The GREEN RAIDERS, who are accustomed to chasing the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills for the NBIL Division 1 title and the North Jersey, Section 1, Group III State championship, are in shock at being winless. Our CUTTERS hope to make that shock and awe this week with a victory. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 14 – Ramapo 7. GO CUTTERS GO!!!