THE GRIDIRON 13-2006

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High closed out their 2006 season 1-9 (.100) with a heart breaking 6-0 loss to the BEARS of Bergenfield on a rain soaked Thanksgiving morning. In their 64 season GRIDIRON history our CUTTERS have been shut out 81 times and have shut out their opponents 81 times. Our heroes came out smoking as Sam Sierra pulled off a neat onside kick that Tommy Spear recovered. However, their drive, featuring a Spear run for a 1st down on 4th and a pass from QB Mike Barchefski to Sierra, died at the Bergenfield 15 yard line. The scoreless first half ended with passes for 1st downs from Barchefski to Spear and Dan Mucha. After the BEARS went ahead 6-0, Barchefski tackled the Bergenfield runner, Kevin Ramishvilli pulled the ball loose and Alberto Zabalaga grabbed it and electrified the crowd racing for a TD that was nullified when the officials ruled that the runner had been stopped before giving up the ball. After Barchefski intercepted a pass, QB Nick Graff threw to Spear for a first down and Barchefski threw to Mucha and Joey Visaggio for others but time ran out for Fair Lawn.

There was no “quit” in our CUTTERS who battled all the way. Ramishvilli recovered 2 fumbles, Barchefski made a great tackle after an interception. Dom Rizzo recovered a fumble, Lasha Malazonia sacked the QB and Sergio LaPlaca, Melkis Rosario and Mina Youssef made big plays. Barchefski drove a Bergenfield runner out of bounds at the 1 preventing a second BEARS TD. Fair Lawn leads the 1945-48 and 1962-present rivalry 33-16 (.673) and the 1994-present Turkey Day rivalry 9-4 (.692). The 2006 CUTTERS were the third team in FLHS history to have only 1 victory. Frank Bennett’s 1950 CUTTERS beat only the Bears of Hawthorne 27-20 and Mike Alberque’s 1993 CUTTERS beat only the Indians of Pascack Valley 17-6. Our “never-say-die CUTTERS” beat the Wildcats of High Point 14-7 in State consolation game action and avoided becoming the 4th Fair Lawn team to have a winless season. Frank Bennett’s 1960 CUTTERS, Rich Szura’s 1976 CUTTERS and Pete Natale’s 1982 CUTTERS suffered that fate. Fair Lawn’s overall 1943-2006 record is a winning one at 294-269-14 (.522) and our CUTTERS have outscored their opponents 9,464 to 8,953.

Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 went 1-2 (333) against Division 2. Our CUTTERS lost to Bergenfield and the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands were shut out 30-0 by the INDIANS of Pascack Valley while the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo beat the BRAVES of Indian Hills 35-25. Division 1 took the 2006 interdivisional series 13-10 (.565). In NBIL Division 1 action the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan shut out the NORSEMEN of NV/Demarest 29-0. In Division 2 the RAMS of Ramsey surprised the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah 35-9 and earned a three way championship with Mahwah and Pascack Valley.

As they look ahead to 2007 our CUTTERS will miss guys like Joe Acuna, Mike Capone, Andrew Jaquez, Alnardo Lora, Mucha, Rizzo, Eric Savvides, Sierra, Spear and Youssef. But a strong group of players could return including Barchefski, Ahmet Basci Robert Burns, Spencer Carter, Bruce Cheifitz, Avi Cohen, Matthew Brunetti, Steven Dauster, Joe DiGrande, Graff, Eitan Karavani, LaPlaca, Malizonia, Nick Nobre, Josh Pinsker, John Quino, Ramishvilli, Rosario, John Samoilis, Nathan Shikhel, Randy Tomlin, Joey Visaggio, Steven Young, and Zabalaga. And the Freshman team beat Wayne Hills! I can hardly wait for next season. Until then, GO CUTTERS GO!!!