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!!!