THE GRIDIRON 4 - 2008

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High remained undefeated last Friday night beating the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan by the very 35-7 score I had predicted in THE GRIDIRON. Joe Visaggio electrified the crowd running the opening kickoff back over 80 yards for a TD that was, alas, nullified by a penalty. With center Brian Walis, guards Yuval Bussi and Sergio LaPlaca and tackles Mike Oates and Adam Polisi blocking, QB Travis Kubasta and running backs Kevin Carlson, Nick Graff and Joey Visaggio moved the ball on the ground and Kubasta kept the Golden Knights honest and set up runs with neat passes to Carlson, Graff, Christian Samra and Chris Soltys. Set up by a big Kubasta to Soltys pass, Carlson raced 19 yards for the first TD. Visaggio, as he had done the previous week, rose up from his holder’s position and fired a 2 point conversion pass to Samra and Fair Lawn led 8-0. Carlson intercepted a pass and ran it 30 yards for a TD and our heroes led 14-0 at the half.

In the 3rd quarter Soltys intercepted a pass and ran it 40 yards for a TD. With Visaggio holding, Sacir Hot kicked the extra point for a 21-0 Fair Lawn lead. Hot was just that, not only kicking 3 extra points but booming kickoffs into the end zone! After the GOLDEN KNIGHTS scored, Carlson’s 14 yard TD scamper and Hot’s kick put Fair Lawn up 28-7. A final drive led to Visaggio’s 15 yard TD run and Hot’s kick closed out the impressive Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 victory.

The “D” kept NV bottled up all night. Soltys made a TD saving tackle and broke up passes, Graff made big stops, Visaggio broke up what would have been a 45 yard TD pass, Igor Buharin broke up a pass, Yuval Bussi, Samra and LaPlaca all made big plays and Marcus Peterkin and Bryan Turton teamed up to break up a pass play leading to Kubasta taking a knee to end the game.

In the other NBIL Division 1 games the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest beat the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 35-24 and the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills notched their 43rd straight victory beating the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo 31-21. In Division 2 the INDIANS of Pascack Valley beat the RAMS of Ramsey 24-7 and the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah scalped the BRAVES of Indian Hills 49-3. The BEARS of Bergenfield had their bye.

This Saturday night our CUTTERS travel to Oakland to take on the BRAVES of Indian Hills for the 23rd time. Fair Lawn leads the 1984-97 and 2000-present rivalry 12-10 (.545). Our CUTTERS come into the game 3-0 for the first time since 1999 and have outscored the opposition 103-20 for an average 34-7 win. The BRAVES are 1-2 (.333) and have been outscored 94-20 for an average loss of 31-7. Coach Stan Myles’ CUTTERS figure to keep on winning. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 42 – Indian Hills 7. GO CUTTERS GO!!!