THE GRIDIRON 10 - 2008

By Dick Engelhardt

The stage was set for high drama at Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale last Saturday night in a Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) interdivisional showdown. The INDIANS had secured a berth in the North Jersey, Section 1, Group III playoffs but the CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High had to win or the HIGHLANDERS of West Milford would take the last spot. Our CUTTERS came out firing! QB Travis Kubasta threw a 57 yard TD strike to Chris Soltys and with Greg Rau snapping and Joe Vissagio holding, Sacir Hot kicked the extra point to put Fair Lawn up 7-0. PV came back to tie it but Kubasta threw to Soltys again for a 29 yard TD and Hot’s kick put our heroes up 14-7. It was like two heavyweights battling it out as PV came back to tie the score at 14. Visaggio’s 30 yard TD run and Hot’s kick put Fair Lawn ahead 21-14. Visaggio’s 57 yard scamper and Hot’s kick made it 28-14. PV came back with 2 TDs to tie it and Kubasta threw a 29 yard TD strike to Visaggio to put Fair Lawn up 35-28. Three PV TDs put the INDIANS up 49-35. Our “never-say-die” CUTTERS came back in the closing seconds with a 1 yard TD run by Visaggio, his 4th TD on the night, and Hot’s kick closed out the scoring. Fair Lawn’s onside kick failed and the 49-42 thriller ended.

Pascack Valley leads the 1955-56, 1984-85 and 1988-present rivalry 14-10-1 (.583) and has won the last 5 games. Their coach, Craig Nielsen, was an assistant at Fair Lawn 1980-85 under Pete Natale. Their CUTTERS shared the 1980 Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) title with Clifton and Passaic Valley and beat the INDIANS of Passaic 27-18 at GIANTS STADIUM in the States before losing the final 20-0 to Passaic Valley. They returned to the NBIL in 1984 and won NBIL Division 1 titles in ’84 and ’85. The ’85 CUTTERS were in the playoffs and lost a 36-26 thriller to Passaic.

Fair Lawn’s NBIL Division 1 went 2-1 (.667) over Division 2. While Fair Lawn lost to PV, the top seeded playoff PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills beat the BRAVES of Indian Hills 49-14 and the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan beat the THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah 16-6. Division 1 leads the ’08 series 14-7 (.667). In Division 1 action the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo earned a playoff berth beating the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 31-12. In Division 2 the RAMS of Ramsey earned a playoff spot beating the BEARS of Bergenfield 28-12. The NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest had their bye.

While the NBIL sends Pascack Valley, Ramapo, Ramsey and Wayne Hills to the States, our CUTTERS will play a Consolation Game at home at SASSO FIELD at Noon Saturday against the MUSTANGS of Montville. Under coaches Mike Albergue (2-1), Greg Tanzer (4-1) and Stan Myles (1-0) our CUTTERS are 7-2 (.778) in these games since they began in 1998. NBIL Division 1 Fair Lawn is 5-3 (.625) and has outscored the opposition 251-199 for an average 31-25 win. Northern Hills Conference (NHC) Skyline Division Montville is 5-4 (.556) and has outscored the opposition 204-103 for an average 23-11 win. Coach Stan Myles’ CUTTERS want to win this one and improve their season record. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 28 – Montville 14. GO CUTTERS GO!!!