THE GRIDIRON 10 - 2007

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High lost a thriller 23-13 to the INDIANS of Pascack Valley last week in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) interdivisional action. Captains Mike Barchefski, Ahmet Basci, Lasha Malazonia and Kevin Ramishvilli won the coin toss and Fair Lawn elected to receive. QB Travis Kubasta threw to Kevin Carlson and Joe Visaggio for yardage and our heroes were moving the ball with Barchefski, Carlson, Nick Graff and Visaggio lugging the pigskin. The Indians scored but Ramishvilli blocked the point after kick and it was only 6-0. With 23 seconds left in the half Kubasta uncorked a picture pass to Basci for a TD and, with Barchefski holding, Chris Soltys kicked the extra point to put our CUTTERS up 7-6 at the half! Barchefski, Graff, Basci, Ricardo Espinal, Malazonia, Melkis Rosario and Visaggio made key defensive plays and Peter Park sacked the QB.

In the second half, in a daring move, Kubasta picked up a first down on 4th and 1 at the Fair Lawn 27 behind center Brian Walis but then Pascack Valley recovered a fumble and scored to go ahead 14-7 with a 2 point conversion. They scored again to go up 21-7 and a safety made it 23-7. Our “never-say-die" CUTTERS roared back as Ramishvilli picked off a fumble and raced for a TD. The 2 point conversion try failed and the Indians hung on for the win, which they needed for their playoff hopes. Barchefski and Visaggio recovered fumbles and Sergio LaPlaca alertly grabbed the football after it touched an INDIAN on a kick off to give Fair Lawn possession. Not only was PV head coach Craig Nielsen an assistant at Fair Lawn under Pete Natale 1980-85 but PV assistant coach. Craig Buckley was a star Fair Lawn QB in the 1990s. Pascack Valley leads the 1955-56, 1984-85 and 1988-present rivalry 13-10-1 (.565) and has won the last 4 games.

Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 went 2-1 (.667) over Division 2. While our CUTTERS lost to PV, the NBIL Division 1 champion PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills scalped the BRAVES of Indian Hills 64-20 and the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan beat the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah 41-21. The NBIL Division 1 and Division 2 are tied at 10-10 in the ’07 series so far. In Division 1 action the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo shut out the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 19-0. In Division 2 the RAMS of Ramsey shut out the BEARS of Bergenfield 21-0. The NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest had their bye week.

This Saturday our CUTTERS are home at SASSO FIELD at 1:00 hosting the WILDCATS of High Point in their New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) “Consolation Game.” Last year our CUTTERS beat High Point 14-7. The Red and Grey clad WILDCATS looked an awful lot like our Crimson and Gray clad CUTTERS. This year Fair Lawn is the home team again because our victories over Northern Highlands and Ramapo earned Fair Lawn 16 “power points” while High Point’s victories over Hopatcong, Newton and Wallkill Valley earned the WILDCATS 11 “power points.” Under coaches Mike Alberque (2-1) and Greg Tanzer (4-1), Fair Lawn is 6-2 (.750) in Consolation Games since they were instituted in 1998. Fair Lawn comes into the game 2-6 (.250) having been outscored 196-112 for an average loss of 25-14. High Point is 3-6 (.333) and has been outscored 220-119 for an average loss of 24-13. You can’t get a much closer match up! Our CUTTERS have been playing tough this season and figure to continue their Consolation Game winning streak. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – High Point 13. GO CUTTERS GO!!!