THE GRIDIRON 1 – 2009

By Dick Engelhardt

It’s great to be back on THE GRIDIRON again as The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High begin their 67th season with a record of 304-279-14 (.521) It all started September 13th, 1943 when FLHS opened without seniors, who stayed at Paterson Eastside, Hawthorne and Ridgewood to graduate in 1944. Coach Marty Fischbein led the CUTTERS to a fine 9-4-2 (.692) record in independent action in 1943 and 44 after starting up with 3 JV games. Some called the new team the COMETS because they scored quickly in their first game, a 7-6 loss to Lodi, and others called them the CLIPPERS. Word has it that some team members would leave school early to visit Doc Gurney, after whom Gurney Terrace is named, for taping and disappear for a time forcing Coach Fischbein to wait for the arrival of these "cutters" before he could run a full practice. And then, before the Leonia game, team captain Jack Van Olden 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. The miscreants were caught and coach 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. Livingstone, who passed away, last year, took a pass from Van Olden and ran it 43 yards for a TD. In the 4th quarter, he ran 20 yards for a TD and plunged for the extra point winning the game. The student body, having chosen Crimson and Gray as the school colors, said “The CUTTERS won the game!” They insisted that the athletic teams be known as “The Cutters of Fair Lawn High.” And so it is 66 years later!

Our heroes have given us plenty to cheer about over the years. In 1945 legendary coach Frank Bennett, a member of the FLHS Athletic Hall of Fame after whom the gymnasium is named, came to Fair Lawn as our CUTTERS ended their independent status and joined the Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL), which had been formed in 1943 by Bergenfield, Bogota, Hawthorne, Lyndhurst and Ramsey. Bennett’s CUTTERS won the B-PIL title in 1945, 1946 (with the BUCCANEERS of Bogota), 1947 (with the GOLDEN BEARS of Lyndhurst), 1953 and 1955. The B-PIL became the Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) in ’56. Fair Lawn moved up to the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) in 1959 and Frank Devens’ Cutters won NNJIL titles in 1965 and 1966 when they finished off a 24 game non-losing streak that was started in the 3rd game of the 1964 season by Ed Sheehy’s CUTTERS. Pete Natale’s CUTTERS shared the NNJIL title in 1980 with the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High and the HORNETS of Passaic Valley. The CUTTERS moved back to the NBIL in 1984 and Natale’s teams won the NBIL Division 1 title in 1984, 1985 and 1987. Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS were NBIL Division 1 champs in 1989. The playoffs began in 1974 and Natale’s CUTTERS were in them in 1979, 1980, 1985 and 1987. Alberque’s CUTTERS were in the playoffs in 1988, 1989 and 2000.

On opening Day, Friday, September 11th, at 4:15 at SASSO FIELD our CUTTERS take on the KNIGHTS of Paterson’s John F. Kennedy High in a new North Jersey Tri-County Conference (NJTCC) crossover game. Paterson Central was the Turkey Day rival of the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside. During 1951-56 and 58 Fair Lawn went 5-2 (.714) over Central. In 1988 the successor KNIGHTS of Paterson Kennedy beat our CUTTERS 20-6 in the States while, in the 2003 State “Consolation Game,” our CUTTERS prevailed 20-0 to bring their record against Central/Kennedy to 6-3 (.667). As the rivalry is renewed, from here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – JFK 14. GO CUTTERS GO!!!