SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-10

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Saturday evening, October 27, the Mustangs of South Western visited the den of the Bearcats of York (William Penn) and played them even up for a 14-14 tie at the half, but fell 41-14 as the Bearcats pulled away in the second half. The Bearcats clinched at least a share of the Division I title, and put themselves solidly in the class AAAA District Playoffs.

The Mustangs started off like a house on fire on the first play from scrimmage as Duane Rowlette intercepted a Bearcats pass by Malik Generett and returned it 65-yards for a touchdown. Zak Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 7-0 just 21 seconds into the game.

The Bearcats then kept the ball for 1 play before Karl Maynor recovered a fumble for the Mustangs, who then ripped off a 7-play drive that ended with a missed 44-yard field goal attempt. The Bearcats gained a yard on a run and then Jordan Davis connected with Robert Richardson on a 72-yard touchdown pass. Ethan Fair’s extra point kick tied the game at 7 at 7:01 in the first quarter.

The Mustangs went three and out and punted, the Bearcats turned the ball over on downs, the Mustangs punted again and the Bearcats attempted a punt but a bad snap gave the Mustangs the ball on the Bearcats 24-yard line. Three plays and a penalty later a 46-yard field goal attempt by the Mustangs was blocked. The Bearcats got the ball at midfield and Davis completed a 38-yard pass to Kevin Kearse, followed by Brandon Walker’s 12-yard touchdown run. Fair’s extra point kick put the Bearcats up 14-7 at 8:21 in the second quarter,

The Mustangs began a drive at their 35-yard line. David Sager completed a 39-yard pass to Chris Helwig; sophomore J. R. Mummert gained 3-yards on 2 carries, and Sager threw a 23-yard touchdown strike to John Bingham. Kruger’s extra point kick knotted the score at 14 with 6:32 to go in the half, and that was the score at the half. The Mustangs had gone toe to toe with the vaunted Bearcats and came out even.

The second half belonged to the Bearcats. Mike Kinard scored on a 46-yard run early in the third quarter and Davis connected with Robert Richardson on a 12-yard touchdown pass. The score was 28-14 going into the final quarter. Richardson intercepted a Mustangs pass and returned it 41-yards for a Bearcats touchdown with 9:23 to go in the game. That pretty much sealed the victory but Brandon Walker tacked on a 6-yard touchdown run with 2:03 to go to make the final score 41-14 after Fair’s 5th extra point kick.

Duane Rowlette and John Bingham led the Mustangs with 7 tackles each, followed by Drew Sneeringer with 6, Karl Maynor, Jordan Gall and Brandon Nicastro with 5 each, Andrew Sells, Corwyn Gordon, Derek Supel, and Josh Rummel with 4 each, Jake Myers, Zach Hagerman, Adam Day, and Blair Messinger with 3 each, Cody Mundorff, Chris Helwig, Travis Scott, and Chris McDonald with 2 each, and Tyrell McCleary and Zac Scott with 1 tackle each. Supel, Sneeringer and Nicastro were each credited with a sack. Rowlette was credited with 2 pass defenses, Mundorff and Maynor were each credited with a pass defense, Maynor recovered a fumble and Rowlette returned the interception for the 65-yard touchdown for the Mustangs.

Chris Helwig returned 2 kickoffs for 30-yards, Karl Maynor returned 2 for 28-yards, and John Bingham returned 1 for 8-yards for the Mustangs. Daryl Grubb punted 4 times for 94-yards, for a 23.5-yard average, and Jake Myers punted 2 times for 75-yards, for a 37.5-yard average. Zak Kruger kicked off 3 times for 137-yards, with the longest going for 53-yards, for the Mustangs.

John Bingham, 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. Karl Maynor, Cody Mundorff, Duane Rowlette, and Travis Scott patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 102-yards rushing and 170-yards passing for 272-yards of offense. Zac Scott led the Mustangs rushing attack with 45-yards, followed by J. R. Mummert with 22-yards, Ryan Laughman with 15-yards, Mike Brant with 12-yards, John Bingham with 3-yards, and Chris Helwig and David Sager with minus 1-yard each. Quarterback Sager completed 16 passes for 170-yards and a touchdown, 4 for 64-yards to Bingham (including a 23-yard touchdown), 2 for 48-yards to Helwig, 4 for 38-yards to Drew Sneeringer, 2 for 7-yards to Zac Scott, 2 for 5-yards to Marty Kefauver, 1 for 4-yards to Duane Rowlette, and 1 for 4-yards to Karl Maynor, for the Mustangs. Rowlette returned the interception 65-yards for a touchdown and Maynor recovered a fumble for the Mustangs.

The William Penn Bearcats gained 141-yards rushing and 249 yards passing for 390-yards of offense. Mike Kinard led the Bearcats rushing attack with 87-yards (including a 46-yard touchdown), followed by Wilfredo Martinez and Brandon Walker (who had touchdown runs of 12 and 6-yards) with 25-yards each, Robert Richardson with 13-yards, Carl Barnes with 7-yards, Jordan Davis with 3-yards, and the team lost 19-yards on a bad snap on a punt attempt. Quarterback Davis completed 9 passes for 249-yards and 2 touchdowns, 2 for 84-yards to Richardson (for touchdowns of 72 and 12-yards), 3 for 82-yards to Malik Generett, 2 for 48-yards to Kevin Kearse, 1 for 28-yards to Joe Kennedy, and 1 for 7-yards to Barnes, for the Bearcats. Richardson also returned the interception 41-yards for a touchdown, Newt Miller intercepted a pass and returned it 27-yards, and Walker recovered a fumble for the Bearcats.

Mike Kinard returned 2 punts for 27-yards, with the longest going for 14-yards, and Robert Richardson returned 3 kickoffs for 55-yards, with the longest going for 28-yards, for the Bearcats. Jordan Davis punted 1 time for 25-yards, Malik Generett kicked off 6 times for 311-yards, including 1 touchback, for the Bearcats.

Meanwhile, back at the Mustang Corral, the 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band hosted a Cavalcade of Bands Competition featuring 11 high school bands. As host, the Mustangs Marching Band performed their stirring show entitled “City Symphonique: The Sights and Sounds of New York City” in exhibition. Their Broadway show has already resulted in wins in 4 competitions this season, leading up to a competition in Red Lion and then the championships in Hershey. 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 Bearcats Marching Band entertained at half time with a great performance. The 21 Mustangs cheerleaders enthusiastically roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 2-7-0 overall and 1-5-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 168-71-1 (.703) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 309-189-8. The results of the 506 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 close out their regular season by hosting the Squires of Delone Catholic in an interdivisional game at the Mustang Corral. The Squires are coming off of a 41-0 victory over the Spartans of York County Tech. From here it looks like the Mustangs are ready to end the season on a winning note. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 9 - 2007

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High ran into the juggernaut no team can beat in the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 action last week and were shut out 35-0. In the 65 year GRIDIRON history of Fair Lawn High our CUTTERS have been shut out 82 times, the last being 6-0 by the BEARS of Bergenfield last Thanksgiving, and have shut out their opponents 81 times, the last being their 20-0 victory over the KNIGHTS of JFK of Paterson in the 2003 State “Consolation game.” Our CUTTERS had nothing to be ashamed of and played their hearts out. QB Travis Kubasta threw to Nick Graff for a first down and Graff raced for another first down at the 45. Mike Barchefski and Joe Visaggio scampered for first downs too. Mike Copelton recovered a fumble, Sergio LaPlaca sacked the QB and Chris Soltys intercepted a pass. Bruce Cheifitz, Ricardo Espinal, Graff, Lasha Malazonia, Peter Park, Kevin Ramishvilli, Melkis Rosario and Visaggio all made great plays on “D.” Ahmet Basci and Copelton teamed up to stop the PATS on 4th down giving Fair Lawn the ball at the end. Wayne Hills leads the 1984-present rivalry 19-5 (.792). The PATRIOTS took the ‘07 NBIL Division 1 title with the victory.

In other NBIL Division 1 action the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan shut out the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 27-0 and the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo beat the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest 34-14. In Division 2 the BRAVES of Indian Hills mauled the BEARS of Bergenfield 48-8. The NBIL Division 2 RAMS of Ramsey brought the NBIL record against other leagues to 2-1 (.667) losing 7-0 to the undefeated PANTHERS of Cedar Grove and the Colonial Hills Conference (CHC) Hills Division. The INDIANS of Pascack Valley and THUNDRBIRDS of Mahwah had their Bye week.

This Saturday at SASSO FIELD our CUTTERS host the INDIANS of Pascack Valley. The INDIANS lead the 1955-56, 1984-85 and 1988-present rivalry 12-10-1 (.545). PV Head Coach Craig Nielsen was an assistant under Pete Natale in Fair Lawn 1980-85. He was a part of the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) tri-championship with Clifton and Passaic Valley in 1980 and that thrilling 27-18 Giants Stadium victory over Passaic in the States and the NBIL Division 1 championships in 1984 and 85 and the 85 playoff game against Passaic. His INDIANS come into the game 4-3 (.571) having outscored the opposition 136-122 for an average 19-17 victory. Fair Lawn is 2-5 (.286) and has been outscored 173-99 for an average 25-14 loss. Over the years the games against Pascack Valley have been bruisers. Our CUTTERS will put up a battle royal and I think they can win. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – Pascack Valley 13. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2007 Week 7

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1947 - Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS beat the BUCCANEERS of Bogota 30-18 on their way to a Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) co-championship with the GOLDEN BEARS of Lyndhurst. They had shared the ’46 title with the BUCS. Our CUTTERS took the 1945-55 rivalry 6-3-2 (.667).

1957 – Bennett’s CUTTERS tied the GRAY BEES of St. Benedict’s Prep of Newark 13-13 in independent action. During 1954-57 the GRAY BEES went 2-1-1 (.667) over Bennett’s CUTTERS. Al Reinoso played for them and became the 5th coach in FLHS history during 1972-74.

1967 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS fell 47-7 to the COMETS of Hackensack in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action. Devens’ 1966 CUTTERS had beaten the COMETS 46-6. 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.

1977 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS ambushed the HIGHWAYMEN of Teaneck 34-18 in NNJIL action. During 1954-58 independently and 1959-82 in the NNJIL our CUTTERS went 17-11-1 (.607) over the HIGHWAYMEN.

1987 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS scalped the BRAVES of Indian Hills 34-12 in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) interdivisional action on their way to the NBIL Division 1 title. Fair Lawn leads the 1984-97 and 2000-present rivalry against Indian Hills 12-10 (.545) including
this year’s 33-13 BRAVES victory.

1997 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS were beaten 31-20 by the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills in NBIL Division 1 action. The PATRIOTS lead the 1984 – present rivalry 18-5 (.783). Fair Lawn’s last victory was in 1989 as Alberque’s NBIL Division 1 champion and playoff bound CUTTERS thrashed Wayne Hills 35-8. The rivalry continues today here at SASSO FIELD.

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-9

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, October 19, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Colonials of New Oxford at the Mustang Corral and lost 18-14 in a thriller. Two botched snaps on punt attempts by the Mustangs gave the Colonials good field position and led to the first score by the Colonials. A fumble recovery mid way through the fourth quarter led to the Colonials game winning score, but the outcome wasn’t finally decided until the valiant Mustangs ended an 8 play 44-yard drive by turning the ball over on downs at the Colonials 25-yard line.

The Colonials drove 41-yards on the opening drive and punted. The Mustangs drove 30-yards to mid field and attempted to punt. A botched snap gave the Colonials the ball on the Mustangs 23-yard line. Brandon Markle scored on a 23-yard jaunt and Sean Patterson’s extra point kick put the Colonials up 7-0 at the 3:27 mark in the first quarter.

Seth Barnes returned the kickoff 33-yards for the Mustangs but a sack by Bobby Laughman forced the Mustangs to punt. The Colonials launched a 7 play 67-yard drive, featuring Tanner McNutt’s 29-yard run to start it off, that ended with a 25-yard field goal by Patterson, making the score 10-0 at 10:12 in the second quarter.

The Mustangs went three and out and punted and the Mustangs got the ball back when the Colonials turned the ball over on downs. The Mustangs punted again and got the ball right back when Barnes recovered a Colonials fumble at their 29-yard line. Barnes ripped off a 14-yard run to the 15, J. R. Mummert ripped off 8 more to the 7, Barnes lost a yard, and John Bingham scored on an 8-yard run. Zak Kruger’s extra point kick made it 10-7.

Erik Harris retuned the Mustangs kickoff 41-yards and the Colonials ended up missing on a 33-yard field goal attempt. That left the score 10-7 in favor of the Colonials at the half.

The Mustangs opened the second half with a 14 play 80-yard touchdown drive, featuring runs of 9, 4 and 8-yards by Barnes, runs of 7, 5, 8, 5, 8, and 4-yards by Mummert. On a field goal attempt, the wet snap was bobbled and holder David Sager alertly rolled left and threw a 10-yard touchdown strike to Drew Sneeringer. Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 14-10 at 5:29 in the third quarter.

The Colonials then turned the ball over on downs at the Mustangs 28-yard line and the Mustangs saw a pass for a first down nullified by a penalty. A botched snap on a punt attempt from the 24 gave the Colonials the ball at the Mustangs 18-yard line. The Colonials had a touchdown called back due to a penalty and then Duane Rowlette intercepted a pass at the goal line and returned it 59-yards to the Colonials 41-yard line for the Mustangs. The Mustangs ended up punting and the Colonials also ended up punting. A Mustangs fumble was recovered by the Colonials at the Mustangs 36-yard line. Ross Hall ran to the 24, Markle ran to the 21, Nick Rebert ran to the 11, and Hall sprinted into the end zone on an 11-yard jaunt. Brian Lawrence ran in for a 2-point conversion after the touchdown to give the Colonials an important 4-point lead and a final score of 18-14 with 5:32 left in the game.

The never say die Mustangs drove 44-yards in 8 plays, featuring passes of 14-yards to Barnes and 15-yards to Bingham from Sager, an 8-yard run by Bingham, a 4-yard run by Barnes, and a 3-yard run by Mummert. Two incomplete passes resulted in turning the ball over on Downs to the Colonials at their 25-yard line. It was only then that the game was decided and the Colonials were able to run out the clock.

Duane Rowlette led the Mustangs with 9 tackles, followed by Chris Helwig with 7, Jake Myers, Drew Sneeringer and Derek Supel with 6 each, Jordan Gall with 5, Seth Barnes, John Bingham, Blair Messinger, and Josh Rummel with 4 each, Andrew Sells with 3, Corwyn Gordon and Zach Hagerman with 2, and Mike Brant, Adam Day, Zak Kruger, Karl Maynor, Chris McDonald, Brandon Nicastro, and Zac Scott with 1 each. Helwig was credited with a sack, a pass defense and a pass hurry, Rowlette and Rummel each were credited with a pass defense, Seth Barnes recovered a fumble and Duane Rowlette intercepted the pass on the goal line that he returned for 59-yards for the Mustangs.

Seth Barnes returned 1 punt for minus 3-yards and 1 kickoff for 33-yards, and Nevan Sager returned a kickoff for 9-yards for the Mustangs. Zac Kruger kicked off 3 times for 140-yards, including 1 touchback. Daryl Grubb punted 4 times for 135-yards for a 33.75-yard average, with the longest going for 46-yards, for the Mustangs.

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

The Mustangs gained 148-yards rushing and 45-yards passing for 193-yards of offense. Sophomore J. R. Mummert led the Mustangs rushing attack with 20 carries for 81-yards, followed by Seth Barnes with 13 carries for 56-yards, John Bingham with carries 7 for 36-yards, David Sager with 4 carries for 2-yards, and the team lost 27-yards on 2 bad snaps. Quarterback Sager completed 4 passes for 45-yards and a touchdown, 2 for 20-yards to Barnes, 1 for 15-yards to Bingham, and 1 for a 10-yard touchdown to Drew Sneeringer, for the Mustangs. Seth Barnes has 499-yards rushing, 210-yards receiving, and 496-yards in kick returns, for a total of 1,205 all-purpose yards for the season for the Mustangs. Barnes leads the Mustangs in rushing yards, followed by Pete Kudla with 385-yards and Mummert with 351-yards. Sager has completed 44 passes for 615-yards for the season and Barnes leads the receivers with 13 catches for 210-yards, followed by Marty Kefauver with 12 for 198-yards and John Bingham with 9 for 106-yards.

The New Oxford Colonials gained 273-yards rushing and 29-yards passing for a total offense of 302-yards. Quarterback Ross Hall led the Colonials rushing attack with 16 carries for 98-yards (including the 11-yard touchdown), followed Tanner McNutt with 6 for 61-yards, Brandon Markle with 10 for 46-yards (including the 23-yard touchdown), Erik Harris with 5 for 44-yards, Nick Rebert with 4 for 19-yards, Jake Groft with 1 for 3-yards, and Ryan Luckenbaugh with 1 carry for 2-yards. Hall completed 2 passes for 29-yards, 1 for 19-yards to Luckenbaugh and 1 for 10-yards to Rebert, for the Colonials. Sean Patterson kicked off 4 times for 211-yards, including 2 touchbacks, kicked an extra point and kicked a 25-yard field goal for the Colonials. Erik Harris returned a punt for 8-yards and a kickoff for 41-yards for the Colonials. Harris also punted once for 39-yards and Jake Groft punted once for 32-yards for the Colonials.

On Band Night, the 100 member strong South Western Mustangs Marching Band was joined on the field by the 115 member Emory H. Markle Colt Marching Band for a stirring pre-game show entitled “Salute to Freedom.” The show featured “Taps,” “Amazing Grace,” and “America.” Unfortunately, the torrential downpour later prevented the Mustangs Marching Band and the Colonials Marching Band from performing their award winning post game and half time shows. But it didn’t stop the 21 member Mustangs Cheer Leading Squad, or the Colonials Cheer Leaders, from stirring up the crowd as they performed admirably in the rain.

The Mustangs of South Western are 2-6-0 overall and 1-3-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 168-70-1 (.706) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 309-188-8. The results of the 505 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 travel to the den of the Bearcats of York (William Penn). The Bearcats (7-1 overall, 4-0 league) are coming off of a 39-21 victory over the Lions of Red Lion. From here it looks like the Mustangs will step up to the plate and take another shot at resuming their winning ways. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 8 - 2007

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High beat the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 20-7 in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 action last week. Team captains Mike Barchefski, Ahmet Basci, Lasha Malazonia and Kevin Ramishvilli with the injured James Mallon as an honorary captain, won the coin toss and elected to receive. Our CUTTERS cut right to the chase with Kevin Carlson, Barchefski and Joe Visaggio picking up yardage behind center Brian Walis, guards Yuval Bussi and Ramishvilli and tackles Chris Liptrot and Alberto Zabalaga. Carlson’s 4 yard TD put Fair Lawn up 6-0. With Barchefski holding, Chris Soltys kicked the extra point and it was 7-0. Visaggio recovered a fumble at the HIGHLANDERS 18 and Carlson’s TD run was nullified by a penalty. No matter! Visaggio raced to the 5 for a first down and QB Travis Kubasta threw a perfect TD strike to Basci. Soltys kicked the extra point and our heroes led 14-0. The HIGHLANDERS scored with 4 seconds on the clock to cut the lead to 14-7 at the half.

In the second half Barchefski recovered a fumble and Visaggio picked up yardage. Kubasta passed to Basci to the 10 and Barchefski came out of the backfield to snare a picture TD pass from Kubasta to close out the scoring. It was great to see Kubasta take a knee to end the game! On “D” Bussi, Carlson, Mike Copelton, Sergio LaPlaca, Malazonia, Peter Park and Ramishvilli made great plays. Basci recovered a fumble. Melkis Rosario made a TD saving tackle on a kick off and Nick Graff sacked the QB. Soltys broke up a pass and nearly intercepted it. On the next play he did just that! The 1986-93 and 1998 – present rivalry with the HIGHLANDERS is all tied at 9. The impressive win was Fair Lawn’s first since 2003 over the HIGHLANDERS and marked the first time our CUTTERS won 2 in a row since they finished the 2004 season with wins over Belleville and Bergenfield. Fair Lawn Hall of Fame member Bruce Jankowski, star of the ’65 and ’66 CUTTERS and spark plug behind that 24 game non-losing streak 1964-66 was in town from Kansas and stopped by the Highlands press box where I was with former Fair Lawn announcer (1967-96) and now “The Voice of The HIGHLANDERS,” Joe Hausmann. My twin brother, Bill, and I “spotted for Joe for 30 seasons and I succeeded Joe as “The Voice of The CUTTERS” in 1997. It felt like a Fair Lawn reunion!

In other NBIL Division 1 action the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills kept right on rolling beating the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest 42-7. In Division 2 the INDIANS of Pascack Valley shocked the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah 28-14 and the BRAVES of Indian Hills beat the RAMS of Ramsey 23-13. In interdivisional action the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo brought the ‘06 record of Fair Lawn’s Division 1 to 8-9 (.471) against Division 2 beating the BEARS of Bergenfield 28-20. The Division 1 GOLDEN KNIGHTS of NV/Old Tappan had their Bye week.

This Saturday our CUTTERS are home at SASSO FIELD against the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills, who might be the best public school team in North Jersey. Fair Lawn comes into the game 2-4 (.333) having been outscored 138-99 for an average loss of 23-17. Wayne Hills is 7-0 and has outscored the opposition 260-21 for an average victory of 37-3. Our CUTTERS have scored at least 2 TDs in every game and 3 in 3 of them. No team has scored more than 1 TD on the PATRIOTS and no team figures to beat Wayne Hills this season but our heroes will give the PATS a battle. I hope I’m wrong but from here it looks like Fair Lawn 14 – Wayne Hills 28. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-8

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, October 12, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Panthers of Central York at the Mustang Corral and were defeated 42-13. L’Mar Calhoun and Joe Munchel each intercepted a pass and James English, Calhoun and Munchel each recovered a fumble for the Panthers, as turnovers dominated the game.

The Mustangs opened the game by going three and out and the Panthers launched a 4 play 62-yard drive, featuring a 35-yard run by Tly Schildt, that ended with a 10-yard touchdown run by Schildt. Alex Kelly kicked the extra point and the score was 7-0 in favor of the Panthers at the 8:34 mark in the first quarter.

The Mustangs and the Panthers then exchanged punts and the Mustangs started at their 9-yard line. James English recovered a Mustangs fumble and returned it 12-yards for a touchdown. Kelly’s extra point kick upped the score to 14-0 at the 3:53 point in the first quarter.

The Mustangs and the Panthers again exchanged punts and the Mustangs went from the Central York 49-yard line to the 41 on a pass from David Sager to Cody Mundorff. The first quarter came to an end and on the next play L’Mar Calhoun recovered a Mustangs fumble for the Panthers at their 36-yard line. A ten-play drive, featuring a 21-yard run by Ryan Wolf and a 22-yard run by T. J. Shaffer, ended with 1-yard touchdown plunge by Shaffer. The score was 20-0 at the 7:31 point of the second quarter.

The Mustangs drove from their 16-yard line to the 45, featuring a 5-yard pass to John Bingham and a 13-yard pass to Marty Kefauver from David Sager. Then Calhoun intercepted a Sager pass for the Panthers to end that drive. The Panthers ended up punting and the Mustangs were pinned at the 3-yard line. The Panthers recorded a safety when David Abror tackled Seth Barnes in the end zone, and the score went to 22-0 at the 2:30 point in the second quarter. The Panthers took the Mustangs kickoff to the Mustangs 45-yard line and a 4 play drive, featuring a 27-yard pass from Brandon Workinger to Parrish Fells, led to a 19-yard touchdown pass from Workinger to Nick Petry, upping the score to 28-0 at the 1:11 mark.

The Mustangs launched a 7 play 37-yard drive, featuring a 16-yard run by J. R. Mummert and a 9-yard pass from Sager to Drew Sneeringer. Joe Munchel intercepted a long Sager pass and the first half came to an end.

The Panthers opened the second half with a 4 play 80-yard drive, featuring a 20-yard run by Fells, and a 60-yard touchdown pass from Workinger to Ryan Wolf. Kelly’s extra point kick upped the score to 35-0 at the 10:03 point in the third quarter.

Karl Maynor returned the kickoff 72-yards for the Mustangs, but they turned the ball over on downs at the Panthers 21-yard line. An Andrew Sells sack of Workinger for the Mustangs forced a Panthers punt but Munchel recovered a Mustangs fumble for the Panthers. Shortly thereafter Fells ripped off a 43-yard touchdown jaunt and Kelly’s extra point kick upped the score to 42-0 at the 1:44 point in the third quarter.

Seth Barnes returned the Panthers kickoff 85-yards for a Mustangs touchdown at 1:26 in the third quarter, averting a shutout, and the score was 42-6. After a Panthers punt, the Mustangs launched a 7 play 47-yard touchdown drive, featuring a 7-yard run by Zac Scott, 2 and 4-yard runs by Mummert, and a 38-yard touchdown pass from Sager to Marty Kefauver. Zac Kruger’s extra point kick made the final score 42-13 in favor of the Panthers with 6 minutes to go in the game.

John Bingham led the Mustangs with 15 tackles, followed by Drew Sneeringer with 10 tackles. Then followed Duane Rowlette with 6, Adam Day, Corwyn Gordon, Josh Rummel and Andrew Sells with 5 each, Zach Hagerman, Brandon Nicastro and Derek Supel with 4 each, Jordan Gall and Blair Messinger with 3 each, Seth Barnes, Chris Helwig and Zac Scott with 2 each, and Dan Laird, Karl Maynor and Jake Myers with 1 tackle each. Sells had a sack, Barnes was credited with 2 pass defenses, and Duane Rowlette and Karl Maynor were each credited with a pass defense for the Mustangs.

Seth Barnes returned 1 punt for 5-yards and 4 kickoffs for 130-yards, with the longest going for 85-yards. Karl Maynor returned a kickoff for 72-yards and Chris Helwig returned a kickoff for 22-yards. Zac Kruger kicked off 4 times for 197-yards, including 1 touchback. Daryl Grubb punted 3 times for 109-yards for a 36.3-yard average, with the longest going for 37-yards, for the Mustangs.

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

The Mustangs gained 58-yards rushing and 93-yards passing for 151-yards of offense. Seth Barnes led the Mustangs rushing attack with 28-yards, followed by J. R. Mummert with 22-yards, John Bingham with 7-yards, Zac Scott with 7-yards, and David Sager with minus 6-yards. Quarterback Sager completed 8 passes for 93-yards and a touchdown, 3 for 64-yards to Marty Kefauver (including his 38-yard touchdown), 1 for 9-yards to Drew Sneeringer, 1 for 8-yards to Cody Mundorff, 1 for 5-yards to Barnes, 1 for 5-yards to Bingham, and 1 for 2-yards to Chris Helwig, for the Mustangs. Seth Barnes has 443-yards rushing, 190-yards receiving, and 446-yards in kick returns, for a total of 1,099 all-purpose yards for the season for the Mustangs. Barnes leads the Mustangs in rushing yards and Marty Kefauver leads in receiving yards with 198.

The Central York Panthers gained 225-yards rushing and 151-yards passing for a total offense of 376-yards. Parrish Fells led the Panthers rushing attack with 89-yards (including his 43-yard touchdown), followed by Tly Schildt with 80-yards (including his 10-yard touchdown), T. J. Shaffer with 33-yards (including his 1-yard touchdown), Ryan Wolf with 21-yards, Aaron Plymire with 3-yards, Charles Anderson with 0-yards, and Brandon Workinger with minus 1-yard. Quarterback Workinger completed 9 passes for the 151-yards and 2 touchdowns, 2 for 90-yards to Wolf (including his 60-yard touchdown), 2 for 23-yards to Fells, 3 for 20-yards to Liggins, 1 for the 19-yard touchdown to Nick Petry, and 1 for minus 1-yard to Kyle Baublitz, for the Lions.

L’Mar Calhoun returned a kickoff for minus 2-yards and he returned 2 punts for 17-yards, with the longest going for 13-yards, for the Panthers. D. J. Harrison returned a kickoff for 21-yards and Blaine Liggins returned a kickoff for 20-yards for the Panthers. Alex Kelly punted 5 times for 200-yards, for a 40-yard average, and he kicked off 7 times for 368-yards, with the longest going for 58-yards, for the Panthers.

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 post 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 Panthers Marching Band entertained at half time with a rousing performance. The Mustangs cheerleaders enthusiastically roused the faithful, especially in the third quarter when the JV and Junior high squads swelled the varsity ranks from 21 to 45 cheerleaders.

The Mustangs of South Western are 2-5-0 overall and 1-2-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 168-69-1 (.709) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 309-187-8. The results of the 504 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .623 winning percentage and a .629 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs continue league play and host the Colonials of New Oxford, 3-4 overall, 0-3 YAIAA Division I. The Colonials are coming off of a 29-27 loss to the Lions of Red Lion. From here it looks like the Mustangs again have their work cut out for them but look to register another win in the Division. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 7 - 2007

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High used their bye last week to get ready to go back on THE GRIDIRON this Saturday. They and their fans are still giddy over Kevin Ramishvilli’s block of what would have been the winning field goal for the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo preserving the thrilling 19-18 Fair Lawn win the previous week. What a warrior he is!

All 5 Northern Bergen Interscholastic League games last week were interdivisional affairs. Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 went 3-2 (.600) against Division 2. The GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan edged the BRAVES of Indian Hills 16-14, the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills shut out the INDIANS of Pascack Valley 27-0, and Ramapo beat the RAMS of Ramsey 16-6 while the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands were beaten 42-6 by the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah and the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest were beaten 30-25 by the BEARS of Bergenfield. The NBIL Division 2 leads the ’07 series 9-7 (.563).

Looking at the season so far our CUTTERS have been in every game. They’ve scored at least 2 TDs in every game and 3 in 2 of them. The Northern Valley/Demarest game went down to the wire with a heart breaking 14-13 opening night loss. Trailing only 10-7 in the Mahwah game, our heroes were on the verge of taking the lead before the T-BIRDS went on to win 31-15. A very strong Northern Valley/Old Tappan team prevailed 35-19 and, after a struggle, the BRAVES of Indian Hills won 33-13. Both teams came into the Ramapo game winless. Our CUTTERS won the 19-18 thriller beating the GREEN RAIDERS for the first time since 1995 when Ramapo QB Chris Simms was a freshman.

This Saturday at 2:00 our CUTTERS travel to Allendale to take on the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands. Last week Coach Stan Myles was at the Northern Highlands at Mahwah game scouting the HIGHLANDERS. Northern Highlands only got its TD against Mahwah subs with 10 seconds on the clock and the HIGHLANDERS were thoroughly out classed. By comparison, our CUTTERS gave the T-BIRDS a battle royal. Northern Highlands leads the 1986-93 and 1998 – present rivalry with Fair Lawn 9-8 (.529). Fair Lawn comes into the game 1-4 (.200) having been outscored 131-79 for an average loss of 26-16. Northern Highlands is 0-5 and has been outscored 179-26 for an average loss of 36-5. Add to this the fact that St. Joseph transfer Kevin Carlson is now eligible to play and brings great speed to Fair Lawn’s offense, and you have the possibility of a breakout game for our CUTTERS. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 28 – Northern Highlands 6. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2007 Week 6

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1947 - Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS shut out the FARMERS of Union 25-0 in independent action in the only game ever played between the teams. Our CUTTERS were on their way to a Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) co-championship with the GOLDEN BEARS of Lyndhurst.

1957 – Bennett’s CUTTERS beat the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest 28-12 in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) action. Our CUTTERS lead the 1956-58 and 1990- present rivalry 12-9 (.571).


1967 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS were outgunned 48-32 in a shootout with the BEARS of Bergenfield in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (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.

1977 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS scalped the INDIANS of Wayne Valley 16-0 in NNJIL action. During 1967-80 the INDIANS went 9-5 (.643) over our CUTTERS. They left the NNJIL for the Northern Hills Conference (NHC) Skyline Division in 1981 and Fair Lawn left the NNJIL to return to the NBIL in 1984. Szura was inducted into the Fair Lawn High School Athletic Hall of Fame this year.

1987 – Pete Natale’s NBIL Division 1 champion and playoff bound CUTTERS scalped the BRAVES of Indian Hills 34-12 in NBIL interdivisional action. Fair Lawn leads the 1984-97 and 2000-present rivalry against the BRAVES 12-10 (.545) including this year’s 33-13 BRAVES victory.

1997 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS were edged 9-7 by the INDIANS of Pascack Valley in NBIL interdivisional action. Pascack Valley leads the 1955-56, 1984-85 and 1988-present rivalry 12-10-1 (.545). PV Head Coach Craig Nielson coached at Fair Lawn 1980-85 under Pete Natale.

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-7

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, October 5, the Mustangs of South Western visited the Lions of Red Lion and were shutout 30-0. Quarterback Ethan Becker was the star of the game as he rushed for 221-yards and scored touchdowns on runs of 57 and 42-yards for the Lions. Brett Fishel added another 178-yards and touchdowns of 17 and 15-yards to seal the win.

The Lions opened the game with an impressive 4 play drive that covered 75-yards but ended with Blair Messinger recovering a Brett Fishel fumble for the Mustangs at their own 13-yard line. Six plays brought the Mustangs out to the 35-yard line, featuring runs of 9-yards by Pete Kudla and 6-yards by John Bingham, where they were forced to punt.

The Lions went 80-yards in 2 plays, runs of 23 and 57-yards by Becker, to go up 6-0 at 5:38 in the first quarter. The Lions never looked back.

The Mustangs gained 16-yards in 4 plays, featuring a 13-yard pass from quarterback David Sager to Pete Kudla, and punted. Joe Ross returned the punt 68-yards to the Mustangs 17-yard line. Fishel scored his first touchdown on the next play and he caught a 2-point conversion pass from Becker to make the score 14-0 at 3:42 in the first quarter.

The Mustangs went three and out and the Lions launched a 25-yard drive on 14 plays to the Mustangs 28-yard line. Two sacks, by Jordan Gall and Brandon Nicastro, for the Mustangs cost the Lions 18-yards and they eventually turned the ball over on downs. The Mustangs soon punted and Chris Liggitt returned it to the Mustangs 42-yard line. Becker’s 42-yard scamper on the next play, followed by his extra point kick, put the Lions up 21-0 at 5:22 in the second quarter. A sack of Becker for a 7-yard loss by the Mustangs John Bingham was the featured play in the remaining time of the first half.

The Mustangs gained 18-yards in 4 plays and punted to open the second half. The Lions then drove 38-yards on 4 plays, featuring Becker’s 40-yard scamper. Then Todd Maciejewski coffin corner punted to the Mustangs 1-yard line and John Bingham slipped and fell in the end zone to give the Lions a safety and a 23-0 lead at 7:40 in the third quarter. The Mustangs kicked to the Lions 33-yard line and Fishel ripped off a 52-yard run to the Mustangs 15-yard line. Fishel followed that with a 15-yard touchdown run and Becker’s extra point kick upped the score to 30-0 at 6:53 in the third quarter.

The never say die Mustangs held on and traded possessions. Keith Dahlheimer intercepted a pass for the Lions and Drew Sneeringer recovered a fumble for the Mustangs. Sophomore J. R. Mummert ripped off runs of 44 and 26-yards for the Mustangs in an attempt to avoid the shutout and the clock ended their drive and the game.

Duane Rowlette, Zac Scott, and Drew Sneeringer led the Mustangs defense with 9 tackles each, followed by John Bingham and Andrew Sells with 8 each, Jordan Gall, Jake Myers, and Travis Scott with 6 each, Brandon Nicastro, Josh Rummel and Derek Supel with 5 each, Seth Barnes and Chris Helwig with 4 each, Adam Day with 3, Bryan Bosley, Pete Kudla, Karl Maynor, Tyrell McCleary, and Blair Messinger with 2 each, and Corwyn Gordon, Daryl Grubb, and Zach Hagerman with 1 tackle each. Messinger and Sneeringer each recovered a fumble and Bingham, Gall and Nicastro each recorded a sack for the Mustangs. Barnes, Gordon and Travis Scott were each credited with a pass defense and Sneeringer and Supel were each credited with a pass hurry for the Mustangs.

John Bingham returned a punt for 8-yards. Seth Barnes returned 2 kickoffs for 24-yards, with the longest going for 22-yards, Levi Sager returned 1 for 18-yards, Chris Helwig returned 1 for 11-yards, and Karl Maynor returned 1 for a yard for the Mustangs. Zac Kruger kicked off 2 times, each for 55-yards, and Daryl Grubb punted 7 times for 241-yards, for a 34.4-yard average, with the longest going for 45-yards, for the Mustangs.

John Bingham, Bryan Bosley, Adam Day, Jordan Gall, Robbie Gonzalez, Corwyn Gordon, Daryl Grubb, Zach Hagerman, Chris Helwig, 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, Duane Rowlette, and Travis Scott patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 151-yards rushing and 30-yards passing for 181-yards of offense. J. R. Mummert led the Mustangs rushing attack with 82-yards, including runs of 44 and 26-yards with the clock winding down in an attempt to avoid the shutout, followed by Pete Kudla with 38-yards, Seth Barnes with 17-yards, John Bingham with 9-yards, Karl Maynor with 4-yards, and David Sager with 1-yard. Quarterback Sager completed 3 passes for 30-yards, 2 for 19-yards to Kudla and 1 for 11-yards to Scott Raubenstine, for the Mustangs. Seth Barnes has 415-yards rushing, 185-yards receiving, and 331-yards in kick returns, for a total of 931 all-purpose yards for the season for the Mustangs.

The Red Lion Lions gained 451-yards rushing and 38-yards passing for a total offense of 489-yards. Quarterback Ethan Becker led the Lions rushing attack with 221-yards (including his touchdowns of 57 and 42-yards, followed by Brett Fishel with 178-yards (including his touchdowns of 17 and 15-yards), Jake Hagan with 42-yards, and Joe Ross with 10-yards. Becker completed 5 passes for 38-yards, 3 for 18-yards to Ross, 1 for 14-yards to Todd Maciejewski, and 1 for 6-yards to Taylor Dolan, for the Lions. Fishel also caught a 2-point conversion pass from Becker for the Lions.

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 pregame 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 Rockets Marching Band (The Blue Crew) entertained at half time with a rousing performance.

The Mustangs of South Western are 2-4-0 overall and 1-1-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 168-68-1 (.712) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 309-186-8. The results of the 503 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .624 winning percentage and a .630 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs continue league play and host the Panthers of Central York, 4-2 overall, 1-1 YAIAA Division I. The Panthers are coming off of a 36-7 win over the hands of the Eagles of Exeter Township. From here it looks like the Mustangs will have their work cut out for them but look to get back on the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 6 - 2007

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High edged the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo 19-18 in a thriller last week in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 action. On the first play from scrimmage they showed they meant business as QB Travis Kubasta threw a pass to Nick Graff for a 29 yard gain to the 49. Mike Barchefski smashed trough defenders to the 1 and then scored to put Fair Lawn up 6-0. Joe Visaggio and Graff picked up yardage on the ground and then Kubasta uncorked a beautiful 40 yard TD strike to Melkis Rosario and our CUTTERS led 12-0. It was 12-7 at the half.

A field goal cut the lead to 12-10. Visaggio ran the kick off to the 35. Kubasta passed to Graff for a first down and Visaggio raced to the 1. Barchefski scored again behind blocking by center, Brian Walis. With Visaggio holding, Chris Soltys kicked the extra point to put our CUTTERS up 19-10. The GREEN RAIDERS scored and went for a 2 point conversion and suddenly it was 19-18. Visaggio scampered for a first down that would ice the game but then the GREEN RAIDERS caused a fumble. Fair Lawn fans hearts were in their throats as the GREEN RAIDERS drove to the Fair Lawn 17 yard line. Having already kicked a 37 yarder, Ramapo lined up with 1:11 on the clock to kick the winning field goal. Kevin Ramishvilli blocked it and Fair Lawn fans, coaches and players screamed with joy. How sweet it was to see QB Travis Kubasta take a knee to end the game!

The “D” helped get the victory too. Ahmet Basci and Soltys recovered fumbles and Yuval Bussi, Graff, Lasha Malanozia and Ramishvilli made big stops. James Mallon made a hellacious hit before having to leave the game with a leg injury. The GREEN RAIDERS lead the series 16-11 (.593) but our CUTTERS broke their 11 season losing streak in the 1956-58 and 1984 – present rivalry. Their last victory had been in 1995 when Chris Simms was the Ramapo freshman QB.

In other NBIL Division 1 action the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills stretched their winning streak to 33 games beating the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan 24-7. In Division 2 the INDIANS of Pascack Valley beat the BEARS of Bergenfield 21-14. Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 went 0-2 against Division 2 as the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands were shut out 31-0 by the RAMS of Ramsey and the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest were beaten 31-13 by the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah. The NBIL Division 2 leads the ’07 series 7-4 (.636).

This week our CUTTERS have their Bye. Next week we’ll look at the season so far and at Fair Lawn’s October 20th game at Northern Highlands. Until then GO CUTTERS GO!!!

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-6

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, September 28, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Rockets of Spring Grove at the Mustang Corral and galloped to an impressive 22-7 victory. Pete Kudla, Seth Barnes and John Bingham led the hard charging Mustangs.

After the Rockets went 3 and out and punted, the Mustangs went 43-yards in two plays to score. Kudla gained 6-yards, Bingham gained 36-yards before prematurely dropping the ball at the one yard line and alert tackle Corwyn Gordon scored the touchdown by picking up the loose ball and carrying it the final yard. Zac Kruger’s extra point kick gave the Mustangs a 7-0 lead at 9:36 in the first quarter.

Andrew Sells then recovered a Rockets fumble at their 30-yard line for the Mustangs. Coty Slothour immediately returned the favor by intercepting a Mustangs pass in the end zone for the Rockets. The Rockets went three and out and punted and the Mustangs drove 16-yards to the Rockets 30-yard line, where a 47-yard field goal attempt by Kruger was blocked by Purnell Richardson for the Rockets.

The Rockets again went three and out and punted and John Bingham returned the kick for a touchdown but it was called back due to a penalty. The Mustangs ended up punting to the Rockets 1-yard line and Derek Supel quickly recorded a safety, putting the Mustangs up 9-0 at 3:03 in the first quarter.

Chris Helwig returned the ensuing Rockets kick 14-yards to the Rockets 47-yard line. Ten plays later, after a drive featuring runs of 12, 1, 2 and 8-yards by Pete Kudla, Kudla scored on a 5-yard scamper and the lead was upped to 15-0 at 10:44 in the second quarter. The Rockets punted again from deep in their own territory shortly thereafter and the Mustangs needed only three plays, a lateral pass from David Sager to Marty Kefauver lost 2-yards, a run by J. R. Mummert picked up 2-yards and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Sager to Drew Sneeringer, to score. Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 22-0 at 7:17 in the second quarter.

The Rockets finally put together a 61-yard twelve play drive, featuring a 12-yard run by Joey Rudd, a 16-yard pitch play to Matt Duncan and a 7-yard run by Duncan, that ended with quarterback Ian Smith sneaking in from the 1-yard line. Cody Baker’s extra point kick made the score 22-7 in favor of the Mustangs with 2:18 left in the half. Another unsuccessful 47-yard field goal attempt by the Mustangs brought the half to a close.

The Rockets excited the crowd when Everett Kerrison recovered an onside kick at the Mustangs 39-yard line to start the second half. On a 4th and 13, the Rockets pulled off a fake punt and Caleb Burns sprinted to the 23-yard line. The Rockets then turned the ball over on downs. The rest of the game was a see-saw battle, as reflected by the fact that Duane Rowlette intercepted a Rockets pass for the Mustangs and Coty Slothour immediately picked one off for the Rockets for his second interception of the game.

John Bingham and Adam Day led the Mustangs with 8 tackles each, followed by Zach Hagerman with 7, Duane Rowlette and Andrew Sells with 6 each, Jordan Gall and Drew Sneeringer with 5 each, Chris Helwig, Karl Maynor, Blair Messinger and Derek Supel with 4 each, Bryan Bosley with 3, Seth Barnes, Corwyn Gordon, Chris McDonald and Zac Scott with 2 each, and Jake Myers and David Sager with 1 tackle each. Bingham and Barnes each were credited with 2 pass defenses, while Day was credited with 2 pass hurries for the Mustangs. Rowlette and Maynor were each credited with a pass defense, and McDonald, Supel and Sneeringer were each credited with a pass hurry. Supel recorded a safety, Rowlette intercepted a pass and Sells recovered a fumble for the Mustangs.

John Bingham returned 2 punts for 65-yards, with the longest going for 50-yards, Seth Barnes returned a punt for 17-yards, and Chris Helwig returned a punt for 14-yards. Helwig also returned a kickoff for 21-yards and Drew Sneeringer returned a kickoff for 9-yards for the Mustangs. Zak Kruger kicked off 4 times for 208-yards, including a touchback. Daryl Grubb punted 3 times for 117-yards, for a 39-yard average, with the longest going for 49-yards.

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 for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 194-yards rushing and 33-yards passing for 227-yards of offense. Pete Kudla led the rushing attack with 22 carries for 114-yards (including a 5-yard touchdown), followed by Seth Barnes with 15 carries for 49-yards, John Bingham with 5 carries for 43-yards, J. R. Mummert with 4 carries for with 6-yards, and David Sager with 2 carries for 3-yards. Quarterback Sager completed 4 passes for 33-yards and a touchdown, 1 for a 25-yard touchdown to Drew Sneeringer, 2 for 10-yards to John Bingham, and 1 for minus 2-yards to Marty Kefauver, for the Mustangs. Seth Barnes has 398-yards rushing, 185-yards receiving, and 307-yards in kick returns, for a total of 890 all-purpose yards for the season for the Mustangs.

The Spring Grove Rockets gained 110-yards rushing and 4-yards passing for a total offense of 114-yards. Caleb Burns led the Rockets rushing attack with 4 carries for 50-yards, followed by Matt Duncan with 11 for 31, Joey Rudd with 8 for 28, Cory Baker with 2 for 4, Purnell Richardson with 1 for minus 1, and quarterback Ian Smith with 8 for minus 2-yards (including a 1-yard touchdown). Smith completed 2 passes, 1 to Baker for 4-yards and 1 to Duncan for no yards for the Rockets.

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 pregame 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 Rockets Marching Band (The Blue Crew) entertained at half time with a rousing performance.

The Mustangs of South Western are 2-3-0 overall and 1-1-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 168-67-1 (.715) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 309-185-8. The results of the 502 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 continue league play and visit the Lions of Red Lion. The Lions are coming off of a 28-10 loss to the Panthers of Central York. From here it looks like the Mustangs are primed to gallop along on the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 5 - 2007

By Dick Engelhardt

In the “Hall of Fame Game” last week the CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High were beaten 33-13 by the BRAVES of Indian Hills in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) interdivisional action. Fair Lawn received the kickoff and behind center Regis Larkin, guards Yuval Bussi and Kevin Ramishvilli and tackles Chris Liptrot and Alberto Zabalaga, moved the pigskin with Mike Barchefski, Nick Graff and Joe Visaggio picking up yardage. After the BRAVES took a 12-0 lead QB Travis Kubasta threw a picture pass to Ahmet Basci for a 13 yard TD. With Visaggio holding, Chris Soltys kicked the extra point and it was 12-7. The BRAVES led 19-7 at the half. Penalties hurt the CUTTERS but, as the WGHT Radio (1500AM) broadcasters said in their “Game of The Week” broadcast from Sasso Field, there was no “quit” in the CUTTERS. Kubasta passed to Basci who took it in for a 39 yard TD to close out the scoring. Melkis Rosario recovered a fumble, Ramishvilli stripped the ball from a Brave and Lasha Malanozia and Visaggio picked off passes. Bruce Cheifitz sacked the QB Graff, Mike Copelton and Peter Park made great hits and Cheifitz and Soltys patted down a pass in the end zone. Fair Lawn leads the 1984-97 and 2000-present rivalry against the BRAVES 12-10 (.545).

The Fair Lawn High School Athletic Hall of Fame was established last year. Cathy Schofield and Roddy Hughes cut the ribbon at the high school Saturday morning and the Hall officially opened outside the Frank Bennett Gymnasium. FLHS Class of ’73 member John Cosgrove announced the halftime ceremonies introducing the 2006 and 2007 inductees who were there. I was especially interested in 3 of the ’07 inductees: Long time Fair Lawn announcer, Joe Hausmann, for whom my twin brother, Bill, and I “spotted” for years and who I succeeded as “The Voice of The Cutters” in 1997; Steve Crevani center on the historic ’59 football team, who I was privileged to present for induction at the dinner Saturday night; and Jack Van Olden, team co-captain and ring leader who 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 before the Leonia game in 1943, the first season. The miscreants were caught and coach Marty 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.” Jack was honored posthumously and was represented by his brother, Wayne (Class of ’53).

Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 went 3-2 (.600) over Division 2. While Fair Lawn lost and Northern Highlands lost 15-6 to Bergenfield, Northern Valley/Demarest beat Ramsey 12-7, Northern Valley/Old Tappan beat Pascack Valley 33-21 and Wayne Hills shut out Mahwah 14-0. Ramapo had its bye week. Division 2 leads the ’07 series 5-4 (.556).

This Saturday night at 7 our CUTTERS travel to Franklin Lakes to take on the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo for the 27th time. 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! Fair Lawn is 0-4 and has been outscored 113-60 for an average 28-15 loss. Ramapo comes into the game 0-3 and has been outscored 115-28 for an average loss of 28-9. Fair Lawn has scored 2 TDs in each game and QB Travis Kubasta is looking good with 2 TD strikes last week. Our heroes can win this one and end an 11 season losing streak against the GREEN RAIDERS. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – Ramapo 7. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2007 Week 5

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1947 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS went outside their Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) to beat the CARDINALS of Pompton Lakes 27-18. During 1945-50 Charlie Benson’s CARDS and Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS split their fierce rivalry at 3-3 (.500).

1957 – Bennett’s CUTTERS were idle.

1967 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS were shut out 13-0 by the SPARTANS of Paramus in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action. During 1962-83 in NNJIL action, the SPARTANS went 12-10 (.545) over our CUTTERS. It was a great rivalry that ended when Fair Lawn returned to the Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) in 1984.

1977 – Rich Szura’s CUTTERS were mauled 33-7 by the BENGALS of Bloomfield High. Our CUTTERS took the 1977 independent and 1978-81 Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) rivalry 4-1 (.800). In ’77 Bloomfield was not yet a full NNJIL member because of a commitment to play Irvington on Thanksgiving.

1987 – Mike Alberque’s NBIL Division 1 champion CUTTERS beat the BEARS of Bergenfield 21-14 in NBIL Division 1 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.

1997 – Alberque’s CUTTERS were beaten 41-20 by the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley, Old Tappan in NBIL Division 1 action. . Fair Lawn leads the 1984 – present rivalry 14–10 (.583) but the GOLDEN KNIGHTS have won the last 6 games.