SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-5

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, September 21, the Mustangs of South Western traveled to the den of the Wildcats of Dallastown and were edged 20-17 in a thriller that saw the Wildcats break a 17-17 tie with a 18-yard Trent Bear field goal with one second left on the clock. Junior running back Kole Kraut’s 142-yards and 2 touchdowns rushing made the difference in a close hard fought contest.

The Wildcats opened the game with a 24-yard drive, featuring a 19-yard pass from quarterback Kevin Frisby to Andre Le, but turned the ball over to the Mustangs on downs at their 40-yard line. The Mustangs drove to the Wildcats 45-yard line, featuring a 10-yard pass from quarterback David Sager to Seth Barnes, but Andre Le tipped a pass and Tyler Imhoff intercepted for the Wildcats and returned it 23-yards to the Mustangs 47-yard line. Frisby gained 5-yards to the 42 and Kole Kraut scored on a 42-yard touchdown jaunt. Trent Bear added the extra point and the Wildcats were up 7-0 at the 4:43 point in the first quarter.

Karl Maynor returned the kickoff 64-yards to the Wildcats 27-yard line for the Mustangs. Justin Zelger recovered a fumble for the Wildcats to end that threat. The Wildcats ended up punting to the Mustangs 25-yard line. Seth Barnes then raced 75-yards for a touchdown for the Mustangs as he broke into the secondary and left everyone in the dust. Zac Kruger’s extra point kick tied the game at 7 at 2:14 in the first quarter.

The Wildcats punted to the Mustangs on their next possession and the Mustangs drove from their 30-yard line to the Wildcats 16, featuring an 11-yard pass to Barnes and a 29-yard run by sophomore J. R. Mummert. Kruger then kicked a 33-yard field goal at 9:51 in the second quarter to give the Mustangs a 10-7 lead.

Each team then punted twice and then the Mustangs next possession resulted in Chris Hunt blocking a punt and Justin McGowan recovered it for the Wildcats at the Mustangs 17-yard line. Frisby ran to the 15 and, after 2 incomplete passes; Trent Bear kicked a 32-yard field goal to tie the score at 10 with 48 seconds left in the first half.

The Mustangs punted on their opening possession of the second half and the Wildcats launched an 11 play 77-yard drive, featuring runs of 13, 10, 14 yards by Frisby. Kraut scored on a 4-yard run and Bear added the extra point to put the Wildcats up 17-10 with 4:53 left in the third quarter.

The Mustangs then launched a 10 play 76-yard drive, featuring a 12-yard pass to Barnes, a 16-yard run by Barnes and runs of 20, 2, 3, 4, and 3-yards by Mummert, and ending with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Mummert. Kruger’s extra point kick tied the score at 17 with 44 seconds left in the third quarter.

The teams exchanged punts in the fourth quarter until the Wildcats started a drive at their own 5-yard line. A 15 play drive, featuring a 14-yard pass to Eric Shoff and runs of 2, 3, 15, 13, 6, 15, 6, 6, and 1-yards by Kraut, got the Wildcats to the 1-yard line of the Mustangs. Trent Bear then kicked his second field goal, an 18 yarder, to give the Wildcats the 20-17 win.

The never say die Mustangs put on a razzle-dazzle play on the kickoff that resulted in a lateral to Seth Barnes and his 20+ yard jaunt that ended the game as he was pushed out of bounds.

John Bingham led the Mustangs with 13 tackles, followed by Duane Rowlette with 12, Zac Scott with 10, Zach Hagerman with 9, Andrew Sells and Derek Supel with 8 each, Drew Sneeringer with 7, Seth Barnes with 6, Blair Messinger with 5, Bryan Bosley and Adam Day with 4 each, Corwyn Gordon with 3, Chris McDonald with 2, and Jordan Gall, Tyrell McCleary, Jake Myers, and Josh Rummel with 1 tackle each. Duane Rowlette, Karl Maynor, Zac Scott and Zach Hagerman each were credited with a pass defense and Andrew Sells had a pass hurry for the Mustangs.

Karl Maynor returned 2 kickoffs for 78-yards, with the longest going for 64-yards, Seth Barnes returned 2 kickoffs for 62-yards, with the longest going for 34-yards, and Nevan Sager returned a kickoff for 12-yards for the Mustangs. Daryl Grubb punted 3 times for 115-yards, with the longest going for 42-yards, and Zac Kruger kicked off 4 times for 194-yards, with the longest going for 58-yards, for the Mustangs.

John Bingham, Bryan Bosley, Adam Day, Jordan Gall, Corwyn Gordon, Daryl Grubb, Zach Hagerman, Chris Helwig, Chris McDonald, Blair Messinger, Josh Rummel, Zac Scott, Andrew Sells, Drew Sneeringer, and Derek Supel manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Seth Barnes, Karl Maynor, Cody Mundorff and Duane Rowlette patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 215-yards rushing and 41-yards passing for 256-yards of offense. Seth Barnes led the rushing attack with 6 carries for 111-yards (including a 75-yard touchdown), followed by J. R. Mummert with 17 for with 86 (including a 1-yard touchdown), John Bingham with 4 for 10, Pete Kudla with 3 for 9-yards, and David Sager with 2 for minus 1-yard. Quarterback Sager completed 5 passes for 42-yards, 4 for 33-yards to Barnes and 1 for 8-yards to Marty Kefauver. Zak Kruger kicked a 33-yard field goal for the Mustangs. Seth Barnes has 349-yards rushing, 185-yards receiving, and 290-yards in kick returns, for a total of 824 all-purpose yards for the season for the Mustangs.

The Wildcats gained 269-yards rushing and 40-yards passing for 309-yards of offense. Kole Kraut led the rushing attack with 20 carries for 142-yards (including touchdowns of 42 and 4-yards), followed by Kevin Frisby with 11 for 71, Matt Rae with 6 for 25, Stephen Rodriguez with 8 for 22, and Andre Le with 2 for 9-yards. Frisby completed 2 passes for 32-yards and Chris Hunt completed 1 for 8-yards for the Wildcats. Le caught 1 for 19-yards, Eric Shoff caught 1 for 13-yards, and Frisby caught 1 for 8-yards. Trent Bear kicked field goals of 32 and 18-yards for the Wildcats.

The 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring half time show, entitled “City Symphonique: The Sights and Sounds of New York City.” The show featured opening themes depicting the “hustle and bustle” of the city, followed by “New York, New York,” “Wonderful Town,” “On Broadway,” and Lullaby on Broadway.” The Dallastown Wildcats Marching Band put on an exhilarating pre-game show. The 21 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad, and the Wildcats Cheer Leaders roused the faithful during this exciting game.

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

Don Seidenstricker has a 167-67-1 (.714) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 308-185-8. The results of the 501 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .625 winning percentage and a .631 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs continue league play and host the Rockets of Spring Grove. The Rockets are coming off of a 30-14 win over the Lions of Red Lion. From here it looks like the Mustangs will pick themselves up and resume their winning ways. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 4 - 2007

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High gave the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan a battle last Friday in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 action before losing 35-19. The undefeated GOLDEN KNIGHTS are a juggernaut with a good chance to beat the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills in their October 6th showdown. Fair Lawn mounted an opening drive that stalled in NV territory. Nick Graff, Chris Soltys and Joe Visaggio picked up yardage. The GOLDEN KNIGHTS ran and passed well and led 21-0 at the half despite great defensive plays by Ahmet Basci, Bruce Cheifitz, Graff, Sergio LaPlaca, Lasha Malanozia, Kevin Ramishvilli, and Soltys. Visaggio had an interception and rambled to the 15 with it!

In the 2nd half the GOLDEN KNIGHTS scored again to go up 28-0. QB Travis Kubasta threw a picture pass to Visaggio for a 17 yard TD to make it 28-6. Peter Park, Melkis Rosario, and Visaggio teamed up on a great stop on a kick off. Egor Buharin made a neat hit. Mike Copelton intercepted a pass and ran it to the 25 and Malanozia scampered the 25 yards for the TD. With Visaggio holding, Soltys kicked the extra point to make it 35-13. Our “never-say-die” CUTTERS battled to the end as a great ht by Ramishvilli caused a fumble and Yuval Bussi picked it up and rambled 25 yards for a TD. It was a pleasure for me to begin my 11th season as “The Voice of the CUTTERS” announcing the game at SASSO FIELD. Thanks to my “spotter,” Kevin Pepitone. Fair Lawn leads the 1984 – present rivalry 14–10 (.583) but the GOLDEN KNIGHTS have won the last 6 games.

In the other NBIL Division 1 games the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills demolished the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo 41-7 and the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest beat the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 28-14. In Division 2 the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah shut out the BRAVES of Indian Hills 14-0 and the RAMS of Ramsey shocked the INDIANS of Pascack Valley 17-12. The BEARS of Bergenfield were idle.

This Saturday at 1:30 our CUTTERS host the BRAVES of Indian Hills at SASSO FIELD in NBIL interdivisional action. The Fair Lawn High School Hall of Fame, which began last year with the first inductions, will officially open at the high school Saturday morning and will be acknowledged in ceremonies at the game. The 2nd annual induction dinner will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall Saturday night. Fair Lawn leads the 1984-97 and 2000-present rivalry against the BRAVES 12-9 (.571). Our CUTTERS are 0-3 and have been outscored 80-47 for an average loss of 27-16. Indian Hills is 1-2 and has outscored the opposition 52-48 for an average score of 17-16. I’ve seen the BRAVES in action against Mahwah and I’ve seen our CUTTERS battle valiantly in every game. They could have won the NV/Demarest game and nearly took the lead in the Mahwah game. Our heroes can win this game! Let’s all be at SASSO FIELD cheering them on. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – Indian Hills 17. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2007 Week 4

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1947 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS beat the RAMS of Ramsey 19-7 in Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League action on their way to a B-PIL co-championship with the GOLDEN BEARS of Lyndhurst. Bennett would be coach of the year. Fair Lawn leads the 1945-58, 1984-99 and 2002-present rivalry by an astounding 28 games to 7 (.800)!

1957 – Bennett’s CUTTERS were idle.

1967 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS ambushed the HIGHWAYMEN of Teaneck 14-12 in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action. During 1954-58 independently and 1959-82 in the NNJIL our CUTTERS went 17-11-1 (.607) over the HIGHWAYMEN.

1977 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS were beaten 49-16 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.

1987 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS beat the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan 13-7 in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 action on their way to an NBIL Division 1 title and playoff appearance. Fair Lawn leads the 1984 – present rivalry 14–9 (.609) but the GOLDEN KNIGHTS have won the last 5 games.

1997 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS beat the BRAVES of Indian Hills 47-30 in NBIL interdivisional action. Fair Lawn leads the 1984-97 and 2000 – 2006 rivalry against the BRAVES 12-9 (.571) with the 2007 game coming up.

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-4

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, September 14, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Thunderbolts of Littlestown at the Mustang Corral and came away with a 27-7 victory, their 308th win as they played their 500th game in the history of the football program.

Matt Koontz got the Thunderbolts off to a great start by returning the opening kickoff 81-yards to the Mustangs 12-yard line. Three plays gained 10-yards and Corey Beaver scored on a 2-yard run. Brandon Myers kicked the extra point and the Thunderbolts were up 7-0 at the 9:23 mark in the first quarter. That turned out to be the only score the Thunderbolts would muster in the game.

Seth Barnes responded by returning the kickoff 52-yards to the Littlestown 43-yard line for the Mustangs. The Mustangs drove to the 23-yard line before turning the ball over on downs with an incomplete pass. The Thunderbolts ended up punting and the Mustangs started a drive on their own 6-yard line. Barnes ran to the 10, Pete Kudla picked up 62–yards to the 28–yard line of the Thunderbolts. John Bingham carried for no gain, Barnes picked up 10-yards and quarterback David Sager lofted a beautiful 18-yard touchdown pass to Drew Sneeringer for the Mustangs. Zak Kruger’s extra point kick tied the score at 7 with 12.9 seconds left in the first quarter.

Pete Kudla was injured on the tackle after his 62-yard run and sophomore J. R. Mummert played the rest of the first half and into the third quarter before Kudla returned. Mummert electrified the crowd with his dazzling runs and his ability to shed tacklers along the way.

Star wide receiver Jordan Staub caught 2 passes for 57-yards for the Thunderbolts, before leaving the game with an injury at the end of a 35-yard reception in the second quarter. The Thunderbolts punted after a 39-yard drive and the Mustangs were off to another 94-yard drive. This one featured a 17-yard pass from Sager to Bingham, a 13-yard pass to Marty Kefauver, and Mummert runs of 5, 2, 13, 8, 0, 5, 8, 16, and 2-yards, and his 1-yard touchdown jaunt. Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 14-7 with 30 seconds left in the half.

The second half started off with several punt exchanges and then Andrew Sells intercepted a Thunderbolts pass and returned it 12-yards for the Mustangs. From their own 42-yard line Sager completed a 15-yard pass to Bingham and a 43-yard touchdown pass to Seth Barnes. The Mustangs led 20-7 with 12.7 seconds left in the third quarter.

Seth Barnes intercepted a Thunderbolts pass to end the third quarter. The Mustangs drove 25-yards to the Thunderbolts 24-yard line and turned the ball over on downs. The Thunderbolts ended up punting and the Mustangs took over on their 47-yard line. Barnes ripped off a 28-yard run to the 25-yard line of the Thunderbolts, Bingham picked up 9 more yards, Sager completed a 10-yard pass to Barnes, and the returning Pete Kudla scored on a 6-yard run. Kruger’s extra point made the final score 27-7 with 3:27 left in the game.

Chris Helwig recorded 2 sacks and Adam Day, Chris McDonald, and Josh Rummel each had a sack for the Mustangs. Duane Rowlette defended 3 passes, Zach Hagerman defended 2, and Travis Scott defended 1. Bryan Bosley, Blair Messenger, Andrew Sells, and Derek Supel each were credited with a Pass hurry. Rowlette intercepted a pass and Andrew Sells intercepted a pass that he returned 12-yards for the Mustangs. Drew Sneeringer led the Mustangs with 10 tackles, followed by John Bingham with 8, Andrew Sells with 6, Seth Barnes, Blair Messinger and Duane Rowlette with 4 each, Adam Day, Corwyn Gordon, Chris Helwig, and Karl Maynor with 3 each, Bryan Bosley, Zach Hagerman, Zak Kruger, J. R. Mummert, Josh Rummel and Derek Supel with 2 each, and Pete Kudla, Kyle Mahorney and Chris McDonald with 1 each.

Seth Barnes returned a kickoff for 52-yards and returned a punt for 32-yards for the Mustangs. Zak Kruger kicked off 5 times for 255-yards, with the longest going for 56-yards. Daryl Grubb punted 2 times for 66-yards, for a 33-yard average, with the longest going for 35-yards for the Mustangs.

John Bingham, Bryan Bosley, Adam Day, Jordan Gall, Corwyn Gordon, Daryl Grubb, Zach Hagerman, Chris Helwig, Chris McDonald, Blair Messinger, Josh Rummel, Zac Scott, Andrew Sells, Drew Sneeringer, and Derek Supel manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Seth Barnes, Karl Maynor, Cody Mundorff and Duane Rowlette patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 260-yards rushing and 135-yards passing for a total of 395- yards of offense. Pete Kudla led the Mustangs rushing attack with 9 carries for 102-yards (including a 6-yard touchdown), followed by sophomore J. R. Mummert with 17 for 74-yards (including a 1-yard touchdown), Seth Barnes with 12 for 70-yards, John Bingham with 6 for 24-yards, Duane Rowlette with no yards on a carry and quarterback David Sager with minus 10-yards on a carry. Sager completed 8 passes for 135-yards and 2 touchdowns. Barnes led the receivers with 2 passes for 53-yards, followed by Bingham with 3 for 47-yards, Drew Sneeringer with 1 for an 18-yard touchdown, and Marty Kefauver with 2 for 17-yards for the Mustangs.

The Littlestown Thunderbolts gained 27-yards rushing and 120-yards passing for a total of 147-yards of offense. Cory Beaver led the Thunderbolts rushing attack with 22-yards (including a 2-yard touchdown), followed by Matt Koontz with 5-yards, quarterback Jerrod Reynolds with 1-yard, and Tyler Fodor with minus 1-yard. Reynolds completed 5 passes for 120-yards. Jordan Staub led the receivers with 2 passes for 57-yards, followed by Garrett Bill with 1 for 29-yards, Justin Emig with 1 for 18-yards, and Fodor with 1 for 16-yards.

The 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring pre-game show, entitled “City Symphonique: The Sights and Sounds of New York City.” The show featured opening themes depicting the “hustle and bustle” of the city, followed by “New York, New York,” “Wonderful Town,” “On Broadway,” and Lullaby on Broadway.” The Littlestown Thunderbolts Marching Band put on a rousing half-time show. The 21 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad, and the Thunderbolts Cheer Leaders were very impressive.

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

Don Seidenstricker has a 167-66-1 (.717) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 308-184-8. The results of the 500 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .626 winning percentage and a .632 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs begin league play and visit the Wildcats of Dallastown. Dallastown is coming off of a 27-9 loss to 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 - 2007

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High were beaten 31-15 by the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah last Saturday night in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) interdivisional action. The game was a lot closer and much more exciting than that score would indicate. Our CUTTERS played great defense thwarting 2 T-BIRD drives deep in Fair Lawn territory with Mike Barchefski, Bruce Cheifitz, Chris Liptrot, Lasha Malazonia, Kevin Ramishvilli and Chris Soltys making big plays. Mike Copelton teamed up with Malazonia on a TD saving tackle. At the half, Mahwah led only 10-0 and the T-BIRDS knew they were in a game!

Our CUTTERS came out firing in the 2nd half as Barchefski, Yuval Bussi, Sergio LaPlaca and Alberto Zabalaga made big stops. Copelton broke up a 3rd down pass to end a T-BIRD drive. When the “D” held, our heroes went to work on “O.” QB Travis Kubasta threw a picture pass to Ahmet Basci for 28 yards. Behind great blocking by center, Regis Larkin, Barchefski raced straight up the middle for 25 yards and a TD. Soltys’ extra point kick, with Barchefski holding, had Fair Lawn trailing only 10-7. Ramishvilli scooped up a Fair Lawn fumble and rambled to the 15. It looked like our CUTTERS would take the lead but the drive stalled. With our “never-say-die” CUTTERS trying to score again, the T-BIRDS intercepted a pass and ran it in. With Mahwah up 31-7, Joe Visaggio ran the kick off into T-BIRD territory. Nick Leone rumbled to the 7 and Visaggio ran for the TD to make it 31-13. Nick Graff’s 2 point conversion run closed out the scoring at 31-15. Fair Lawn leads the 1999-2001 and 2007 rivalry 3-1 (.750).

The GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley, Old Tappan brought the NBIL record against outside teams to 2-0 (1.000) trouncing the independent KARDINALS of Kearny 51-22. Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 went 1-3 (.250) against Division 2. The PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills demolished the BEARS of Bergenfield 49-0 for the only Division 1 win while, in addition to Fair Lawn’s loss, the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley, Demarest lost 42-14 to the BRAVES of Indian Hills and the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo lost 34-7 to the INDIANS of Pascack Valley. The NBIL Division 2 HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands and RAMS of Ramsey were idle.

This Thursday at 3:00 our CUTTERS have their home opener at SASSO FIELD against the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley, Old Tappan in NBIL Division 1 action. Fair Lawn leads the 1984 – present rivalry 14-9 (.609) but the GOLDEN KNIGHTS have won the last 5 games. Fair Lawn comes into the game 0-2 having been outscored 45–28 for an average 23-14 loss. NV comes into the game 2-0 having outscored the opposition 91-36 for an average 46-18 victory. The GOLDEN KNIGHTS are powerful and appear to be the only team with a chance of beating the Wayne Hills juggernaut this season. Coach Stan Myles’ CUTTERS will put up a fight but don’t figure to win this one. I hope I’m wrong but from here it looks like NV/Old Tappan 23 – Fair Lawn 14. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2007 Week 3

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1947 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS shut out the then MIGHTY MITES, now BEARS, of Bergenfield 44-0 in Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) action on their way to a co-championship with the GOLDEN BEARS of Lyndhurst. Fair Lawn leads the 1945-48 and 1962-present rivalry 33-16 (.673) and the 1994-present Turkey Day rivalry 9-4 (.692). The teams have squared off 1945-48 in the B-PIL, 1962-83 in the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) and since 1984 in the NBIL.

1957 – Bennett’s CUTTERS drew a bye.

1967 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS were scalped 40-7 by the INDIANS of Wayne High School in NNJIL action. The school became Wayne Valley when Wayne Hills High School opened in 1969. During 1967-80 the INDIANS went 9-5 (.643) over our CUTTERS in the NNJIL. They left the league for the Northern Hills Conference (NHC) Skyline Division in 1981.

1977 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS were stung 21-7 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 including a 20-0 shut out victory in the playoff finals in 1980. Fair Lawn had edged PV 7-6 in the regular season game and shared the 1980 NNJIL crown with the HORNETS and the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High.

1987 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS beat the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley, Old Tappan 13-7 in NBIL Division 1 action. Fair Lawn leads the 1984 – present rivalry 14–9 (.609) but the GOLDEN KNIGHTS have won the last 5 games with the ’07 game coming up.

1997 – Mile Alberque’s CUTTERS lassoed the COWBOYS of Pascack Hills 38-12 in NBIL interdivisional action. During 1984-86 and 1994-98 our CUTTERS have gone 6-2 (.750) over the COWBOYS.

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-3

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, September 8, the Mustangs of South Western visited the Warriors of Susquehannock and were edged 26-21 in a thriller that wasn’t decided until the Warriors gained a first down by inches on a 4th down and inches with less than a minute to go. Mike Kelly’s 132-yards rushing and three touchdowns spearheaded the victory for the Warriors.

The Mustangs punted on their first possession and the Warriors put on a 65-yard, 5 play drive that ended in Mike Kelly’s 21-yard touchdown scamper. John Bingham blocked the extra point kick for the Mustangs and the Warriors led 6-0 at the 8:50 mark in the first quarter. The Mustangs and the Warriors each punted on their next possessions.

The Mustangs then struck pay dirt as David Sager launched a beautiful 80-yard touchdown pass to Seth Barnes. The pass was in the air for an estimated 50-yards and Barnes carried it the remaining 30-yards for the score. Zak Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 7-6 at the 3:03 point in the first quarter.

Duane Rowlette intercepted a pass and returned it 12-yards for the Mustangs to stop the Warriors next drive. After several punt exchanges, the Warriors sustained a 69-yard 5-play drive that featured a 40-yard touchdown scamper by Mike Kelly. John Bingham again blocked the extra point kick for the Mustangs and the Warriors led 12-7 with 2:22 to go in the first half.

The Warriors marched 55-yards in three plays on the opening drive of the second half, featuring a 5-yard run by Corey Shelton, a 2-yard run by Mike Kelly, and a 48-yard touchdown scamper by Shelton. Pat Miller passed to Mike Kelly for the 2-point conversion and the Warriors led 20-7 at 10:37 in the third quarter.

Karl Maynor returned the Warriors kickoff 45-yards to the Warriors 40-yard line and David Sager lofted a 40-yard touchdown strike to Marty Kefauver for the Mustangs. Kruger’s extra point closed the gap to 20-14 in favor of the Warriors at 10:18 in the third quarter. Cody Mundorff recovered a Warriors fumble for the Mustangs at the Warriors 37-yard line. Pete Kudla ran for 10-yards, Sager ran for 2-yards, and Seth Barnes ran it in from 25-yards out for the Mustangs. Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 21-20 at 8:59 in the third quarter.

After an exchange of punts, the Warriors launched a 57-yard, 2 play drive, ending with Mike Kelly’s 46-yard touchdown run. The extra point attempt failed and the Warriors led 26-21 with 5:55 left in the third quarter.

The rest of the game went back and forth as the defenses dug in. Josh Rummel recovered a Warriors fumble for the Mustangs. The first down by inches on 4th and inches by the Warriors sealed the game with less than a minute to go in a game that provided plenty of thrills and excitement for the fans on both sides of the field.

Duane Rowlette led the Mustangs with 8 tackles, followed by Zach Hagerman with 7, John Bingham Chris Helwig, and Blair Messinger with 6 each, Drew Sneeringer and Derek Supel with 4 each, Karl Maynor and Jake Myers with 3 each, Corwyn Gordon, Chris McDonald, John Neiderer, Josh Rummel, Zac Scott, and Andrew Sells with 2 each, and Seth Barnes, Bryan Bosley, Jordan Gall, Daryl Grubb, Cody Mundorff, J. R. Mummert, and Levi Sager with 1 each. Zach Hagerman was credited with a sack and Chris McDonald blocked a pass for the Mustangs.

Seth Barnes returned 2 kickoffs for 39-yards, with the longest going for 21-yards, and 2 punts for 13-yards, with the longest going for 13-yards; Karl Maynor returned 2 kickoffs for 63-yards, with the longest going for 45-yards; and Duane Rowlette returned a punt for 2-yards for the Mustangs. Daryl Grubb punted 6 times for 221-yards, for a 36.8-yard average, with the longest going for 41-yards. Zak Kruger kicked off 4 times for 218-yards and 2 touchbacks for the Mustangs.

John Bingham, Bryan Bosley, Adam Day, Jordan Gall, Corwyn Gordon, Daryl Grubb, Zach Hagerman, Chris Helwig, Chris McDonald, Blair Messinger, Josh Rummel, Zac Scott, Andrew Sells, Drew Sneeringer, and Derek Supel manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Seth Barnes, Karl Maynor, Cody Mundorff and Duane Rowlette patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 185-yards rushing and 175-yards passing for a total of 360 yards of offense. Seth Barnes led the rushing attack with 11 carries for 94-yards and a touchdown, followed by Pete Kudla with 15 for 76-yards, Chris Helwig with 3 for 10-yards, John Bingham with 1 for 8-yards, Duane Rowlette with 1 for 1-yard, and David Sager with 6 carries for minus 4-yards. Sager completed 9 passes for the 175-yards and a touchdown. Barnes led the receivers with 3 receptions for 89-yards and a touchdown, followed by Marty Kefauver with 3 for 63-yards and a touchdown, Cody Mundorff with 2 for 16-yards and Helwig with 1 reception for 7-yards.

The Susquehannock Warriors gained 269-yards rushing and 72-yards passing for a total of 341-yards of offense. The rushing attack was led by Mike Kelley with his 14 carries for 132-yards and 3 touchdowns, followed by Corey Shelton with 6 for 80-yards and a touchdown, Jordan Robertson with 3 for 23-yards, Ben Norris with 3 for 22-yards, Jimmy Hershey with 4 for 18-yards, and Patrick Miller with 5 carries for minus 6-yards. Miller completed 5 passes for the 72-yards, spread among 5 receivers: Norris for 17-yards, Shelton with 17, Dakota Heath with 15, Hershey with 13-yards, and Tyler Ward with 10-yards.

The 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring half-time show, entitled “City Symphonique: The Sights and Sounds of New York City.” The show featured opening themes depicting the “hustle and bustle” of the city, followed by “New York, New York,” “Wonderful Town,” “On Broadway,” and Lullaby on Broadway.” The Susquehannock Warriors Marching Band put on a rousing pre-game show. The 20 strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad, and the Warriors Cheer Leaders were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

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

Don Seidenstricker has a 166-66-1 (.716) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 307-184-8. The results of the 499 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .625 winning percentage and a .631 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs host the Thunderbolts of Littlestown. Littlestown is coming off of a 40-7 victory over the Rams of Kennard-Dale. From here it looks like the Mustangs, who have vastly improved during the first two weeks of the season, are raring to gallop and expect to resume their winning ways. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 2 - 2007

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High were edged 14-13 by the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley, Demarest in a Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 thriller last Friday. Team captains Mike Barchefski, Ahmet Basci, Lasha Malanozia and Kevin Ramishvilli won the coin toss but Fair Lawn’s first two drives ended with fumbles and the NORSEMEN went ahead 12-0. Barchefski, Nick Graff and Joe Visaggio picked up yardage behind center Ricardo Espinal, guards Yuval Bussi and Ramishvilli and tackles Chris Liptrot and Randy Tomlin. Just before the half QB Travis Kubasta threw a picture pass to Graff for a TD. With Barchefski holding, Chris Soltys kicked the extra point to make it 12-7.

Our CUTTERS came our firing in the 3rd quarter. After the “D” held, Barchefski bulled to the 5 and Graff scored to put our CUTTERS ahead 13-12. Late in the game, deep in Fair Lawn territory, Graff raced for a 1st down that would probably have sealed the victory but a holding penalty negated that and, with our heroes backed up against their own goal line, NV scored a safety to go ahead 14-13. Our “never-say die” CUTTERS roared back with a pass from Kubasta to Basci that put Fair Lawn at the NV 8. The drive stalled and, with seconds left, Solyts lined up to kick the winning field goal but the NORSEMEN blocked it. Melkis Rosario made a TD saving tackle, Malanozia blocked a field goal try, Solyts recovered a fumble and Alberto Zabalaga recovered the ball after NV blocked a punt to keep Fair Lawn’s come back drive alive. Our CUTTERS lead the 1956-58 and 1990- present rivalry 12-9 (.571). A large contingent from my FLHS Class of ’57 was in town for their 50th reunion and enjoyed a tour of the high school Saturday. It was great to see them!

In the other NBIL Division 1 games the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of NV/Old Tappan beat the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo 40-24 and the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills mauled the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 63-0. In Division 2, the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah beat the BEARS of Bergenfield 26-20 and the INDIANS of Pascack Valley scalped the BRAVES of Indian Hills 20-10. The NBIL is 1-0 against other leagues as the NBIL Division 2 RAMS of Ramsey beat the Bergen County Scholastic League (BCSL) National Division PATRIOTS of Secaucus 36-20.

On Saturday night our CUTTERS travel to Mahwah to take on the T-BIRDS in an NBIL interdivisional game. During 1999-2001 our CUTTERS went 3-0 (1.000) over the T-BIRDS. Mahwah figures to contend with Pascack Valley for the NBIL Division 2 title and will be tough. Coach Stan Myles’ CUTTERS can make a real statement with a victory. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – Mahwah 13. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-2

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, August 31, the Mustangs of South Western visited the Warriors of Gettysburg, ranked number 10 in the State by the Harrisburg Patriot News, and lost 31-13 after hanging right in there with them through most of the first half. The win was the 499th in the history of the Warriors football program. This one boiled down to the Evan Lewis show. Lewis, a senior and 3-year starter at quarterback, racked up runs of 13, 5, 25 and 5-yards before scoring on a 32-yard run with 1:03 left in the half, and his extra point kick gave the Warriors a 10-0 lead. His 21-yard field goal in the first quarter had been the only score up to that point.

The Mustangs and the Warriors each went three and out on their first possessions in what began as a defensive struggle. The Mustangs then were pinned back at their 3-yard line and punted. The Warriors took over on the Mustangs 26-yard line and got to the Mustangs 4-yard line before Lewis kicked the field goal to open the scoring.

The Mustangs drove 64-yards, featuring a 42-yard jaunt by Seth Barnes, to the Warriors 14-yard line, only to come away with no points as a 31-yard field goal attempt was missed.

A succession of punts by both sides ensued. Chris McDonald recovered a fumbled punt by the Warriors’ Zach Michaels on the Warriors 27-yard line but the Mustangs were not able to capitalize and punted again. Finally the stalemate was broken as the Warriors ripped off a 91-yard drive, featuring the runs by Lewis, and scored to go into half time up 10-0.

The Mustangs had held the vaunted Lewis to 5 completions on 10 passes for 40-yards in the first half. The second half 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, as he completed 6 of 7 passes for 101-yards.

The Warriors opened the second half with a 4-play 60-yard drive, capped by a 19-yard touchdown run by Justin Jones and the extra point by Lewis upped the score to 17-0. After an exchange of punts, the Mustangs were on their own 32-yard line when Zach Michael intercepted a David Sager pass and returned it 40-yards for a Warriors touchdown. The Lewis extra point kick made the score 24-0 near the end of the third quarter.

The Warriors ran off a 6-play 75-yard drive ending in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Lewis to D.J. Cool and the extra point by Lewis upped the score to 31-0 at the 7:20 mark in the fourth quarter.

A Warriors punt was returned for 33-yards by Seth Barnes, putting the Mustangs in business at the Warriors 37-yard line. A 4-play drive ended with Ryan Laughman scoring on a 16-yard jaunt. Zac Kruger’s extra point kick made the score 31-7. The never say die Mustangs closed out the scoring as David Sager completed a 43-yard touchdown strike to Marty Kefauver as time ran out.

Seth Barnes returned 2 kickoffs for 59-yards, with the longest going for 40-yards, and 1 punt for 33-yards. Karl Maynor returned a kickoff for 16-yards and Chris Helwig returned a kickoff for 10-yards for the Mustangs. Zak Kruger kicked off 2 times for 104-yards, with the longest going for 58-yards. Daryl Grubb punted 6 times for 172-yards, for a 28.7-yard average, with the longest going for 47-yards, for the Mustangs.

John Bingham, who had 14 tackles and 2 pass defenses for the night, led the Mustangs defense, followed by Duane Rowlette with 10 tackles and 2 pass defenses, Zach Hagerman with 8 tackles, Josh Rummel and Drew Sneeeringer with 7 tackles each, Corwyn Gordon with 6 tackles, Seth Barnes, Bryan Bosley, Karl Maynor, and J.R. Mummert with 5 tackles each, Blair Messinger with 4 tackles, Jordan Gall and Andrew Sells with 3 tackles each, Daryl Grubb, Chris Helwig and Chris McDonald with 2 tackles each, and Cody Mundorf, Jake Myers and Wes Trostle with 1 tackle each. Bingham also had 2 pass defenses, Rummel had a sack, and McDonald had a fumble recovery for the Mustangs.

John Bingham, Bryan Bosley, Jordan Gall, Corwyn Gordon, Daryl Grubb, Zach Hagerman, Chris Helwig, Chris McDonald, Blair Messinger, Josh Rummel, Andrew Sells, Drew Sneeringer, and Derek Supel manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Seth Barnes, Karl Maynor, Cody Mundorf and Duane Rowlette patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 166-yards rushing and 96-yards passing for a total of 262-yards of offense. Quarterback David Sager completed 7 passes for 96-yards, including 2 for 48-yards to Marty Kefauver (who scored the touchdown on a 43-yard reception), 2 for 29-yards to John Bingham, 2 for 9-yards to Karl Maynor, and 1 for 10-yards to Seth Barnes. Barnes led the Mustangs rushing attack with 8 carries for 74-yards, followed by Pete Kudla with 14 for 46-yards, Ryan Laughman with 2 for 21-yards (who scored the touchdown on a 16-yard run), Maynor with 2 for 14-yards, Chris Helwig with 2 for 11-yards and Sager with 2 for 4-yards. Bingham had 3 carries for minus 4-yards.

The Gettysburg Warriors rang up 213-yards rushing and 145-yards passing for a total of 358-yards gained. Evan Lewis completed 11 passes for 141-yards and a touchdown and Randy Vaughn completed 2 passes for 4-yards. Zach Michael caught 4 passes for 61-yards, D.J. Cool caught 2 for 24-yards (including the 5-yard touchdown), Sean Jones caught 2 for 24-yards, Sean Manahan caught 2 for 22-yards, Cody Trail caught 1 for 8-yards, Logan Riser caught 1 for 3-yards and Sean Shelleman caught 1 for 1-yard for the Warriors. Justin Jones led the Warriors rushing attack with 11 carries for 113-yards (including the 19-yard touchdown), followed by Lewis with 6 for 64-yards, Trail with 4 for 13-yards, Zach Sharrah with 4 for 11-yards, Shelleman with 1 for 9-yards, A.J. Acevedo with 2 for 7-yards, Trevon Johnson with 2 for 2-yards and Vaughn with 1 for minus 6-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 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring half-time show, entitled “City Symphonique: The Sights and Sounds of New York City.” The show featured opening themes depicting the “hustle and bustle” of the city, followed by “New York, New York,” “Wonderful Town,” “On Broadway,” and Lullaby on Broadway.” The Gettysburg Warriors Marching Band’s rousing pre-game show featured “Robin Hood – Prince of Peace,” “I Go to Rio,” “Shenandoah,” and “The Battle Hymn of The Republic.” The Mustangs and Warriors Cheer Leading squads were 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 166-65-1 (.719) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 307-183-8. The results of the 498 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .626 winning percentage and a .633 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs visit the Warriors of Susquehannock. Susquehannock opened the season with a 12-7 loss to the Rockets of Spring Grove. The Mustangs played good offense and great defense and hung tough in much of the first half against a top rated team in their season opener. They are looking to get back into their winning tradition. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2007 Week 2

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1947 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS were edged 7-6 by the BEARS of Hawthorne in their Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) opener on their way to a co-championship with the GOLDEN BEARS of Lyndhurst. 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).

1957 – Bennett’s CUTTERS were beat 38-13 by the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) MAROON RAIDERS of Englewood in independent action. Independently 1945-46, 1957-58 and 1986-89 and in the NNJIL 1959-71, our CUTTERS have gone 14-7 (.667) over the MAROON RAIDERS.

1967 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS beat the HILLTOPPERS of Summit in independent action. The victory would be Fair Lawn’s only one in the 1967 – 70 rivalry as the HILLTOPPERS would go 3-1 (.750) over our CUTTERS.

1977 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS were edged 19-13 by the COMETS of Hackensack in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action. During 1959-82 in the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (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.

1987 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS beat the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo 12-7 in NBIL Division 1 action. Ramapo leads the 1956-58 and 1984-present rivalry 16-10 (.615). Fair Lawn's last victory was in 1995 when we beat freshman QB Chris Simms!

1997 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS were beaten 41 - 6 by those same GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo in NBIL action.

THE GRIDIRON 1 - 2007

By Dick Engelhardt

It’s great to be back on THE GRIDIRON again as The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High begin their 65th season with a record of 294-269-14 (.522). 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 Livingstone 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 64 years later!

Stan Myles takes over as the 10th head coach in FLHS history. He follows 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), Mike Alberque (1988–2001) and Greg Tanzer (2002-06). 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, which our CUTTERS had left in 1959. The B-PIL had been renamed the NBIL in 1956. 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 2006! 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 Friday at 7:00 at Northern Valley, Demarest in NBIL Division 1 action. Our CUTTERS lead the 1956-58 and 1990- present rivalry 12-8 (.600). Stan Myles is hoping to be the 7th Fair Lawn head coach to win his initial game. Fischbein, Bennett, Sheehy, Devens, Natale and Alberque did it. Our CUTTERS have hopes for a successful season and want to start it off with a victory against a strong foe. My FLHS Class of ’57 looks forward to celebrating the victory at its reunion dinner Saturday night. Let’s all be in Demarest cheering our heroes on. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – NV/Demarest - 14. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2007 Week 1

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1947 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS began their season going outside their Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) and edging the Passaic Valley Conference (PVC) GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside 20-19. During 1947-54 and 1983 Fair Lawn went 5-4 (.556) over the GHOSTS. This was sweetened by the fact that, until FLHS opened in 1943, most Fair Lawn students attended Eastside. A few students from the Columbia Heights section went to Hawthorne and the Radburn section students went to Ridgewood. The 4-4 (.500) deadlock was broken by the 20-18 Fair Lawn victory in 1983.

1957 – Bennett’s CUTTERS went outside their renamed Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) losing 31-19 to the HIGHWAYMEN of Teaneck and the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL). During 1954-58 independently and 1959-82 in the NNJIL our CUTTERS went 17-11-1 (.607) over the HIGHWAYMEN.

1967 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS, having had their 24 game non-losing streak ended by the shocking 40-34 upset by the MAROONS of Ridgewood on Turkey Day 1966, began their ’67 season shutting out the MAROON RAIDERS of Englewood 7-0 in 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.

1977 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS were shut out 27-0 by the BEARS of Bergenfield in NNJIL action. Fair Lawn leads the 1945-48 and 1962-present rivalry 33-16 (.673) and the 1994-present Turkey Day rivalry 9-4 (.692). The teams have squared off 1945-48 in the B-PIL, 1962-83 in the NNJIL and since 1984 in the NBIL.

1987 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS beat the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 28-21 in NBIL interdivisional action. Natale would close out his 10 year tenure with an NBIL Division 1 crown and a State playoff appearance! The HIGHLANDERS lead the 1986-93 and 1998 – present rivalry 9-8 (.529).

1997 – Mile Alberque’s CUTTERS began their season thrashing the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest 48-0 in NBIL Division 1 action. Our CUTTERS lead the 1956-58 and 1990- present rivalry 12-8 (.600).