THE GRIDIRON 9 - 2009

By Dick Engelhardt

Decimated by injuries before ever taking the field, the undaunted “never-say-die,” CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High went into battle against the juggernaut that is the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills last Friday night in North Jersey Tri-County Conference (NJTCC) Division 3 action and were shut out 37-0. With Kevin Benjamin and Brendan Walis already sidelined, star QB Travis Kubasta was lost before the team left FLHS with a sudden unexpected back problem. If that were not enough, our CUTTERS would lose James Mallon during the game with a hip injury. Captains Egor Buharin, Regis Larkin and Mallon won the coin toss and Fair Lawn received. The first drive stalled quickly. Our heroes put on a defensive show keeping the PATRIOTS at bay. Mallon and Kevin Guy sacked the QB and Buharin recovered a fumble as the PATRIOTS tried a field goal deep in Fair Lawn territory. Brian Alvarez downed a booming Chris Soltys punt. Behind center Larkin, guards Matt Paisley and Eric Simeonoglou and tackles Adam Polisi and Steve Sherlock, QB Dan Prigge handed off to running backs Buharin, James Hegybeli and Christian Samra. Hegybeli picked up a big first down behind neat blocks by Simeonoglou and Sherlock and Buharin and Samra bulled their way for yardage behind Larkin, Paisley and Simeonoglou. Fair Lawn fans were proud of their outgunned CUTTERS as the 1st quarter ended in a scoreless tie!

With 10:51 on the clock in the 2nd quarter the dam broke as the PATRIOTS scored. Their running back, Trevor Jacobs, nephew of NY Giants running back, Brandon Jacobs, ran for 166 yards. The score was 20-0 at the half and Wayne Hills coach Chris Olsen showed class at the end by having his PATRIOTS kick a field goal instead of trying for another TD and then having his subs take a knee to end the game. Soltys and Bryan Turton made TD saving tackles and great defensive plays were made by Guy, Davon Johnson, Mallon, Polisi, Samra, Tim Schrettner, Sherlock, Steve Tatekawa, Sam Vovsi and others. The PATRIOTS lead the 1984-2009 rivalry 20-5 (.800). Fair Lawn’s last victory was in 1989 when Mike Alberque’s Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 champion and playoff bound CUTTERS beat Wayne Hills 35-8. The 1984-93 Thanksgiving rivalry would up 5-5 (.500). The men in the white coats would have come after me because of my rash prediction of a Fair Lawn Victory but held off because of the tremendous handicap our heroes played under.

In the other game in Fair Lawn’s NJTCC Division 3, the GREEN KNIGHTS of St. Joseph ambushed the HIGHWAYMEN of Teaneck 57-21. The HIGHLANDERS of West Milford mauled the BRUINS of North Bergen 41-16 in NJTCC crossover action bringing the NJTCC Division 3 record against outside teams to 15-3 (.833)!

This Saturday at 7:00, our CUTTERS travel to James J. Braddock North Hudson County Park in North Bergen to take on the BRUINS of North Bergen in NJTCC crossover action. In 1989 Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS met the BRUINS in first round playoff action and surprised them 14-7 in the only game ever played between the teams until now. Fair Lawn is 6-2 (.750) and has outscored the opposition 184-138 for an average 23-17 victory. The BRUINS are 4-4 (.500) and have outscored the opposition 182-171 for an average 23-22 score. Our CUTTERS hope to have all their injured players back. I know that, whether they are at full strength or not, our heroes will go all out to win this one even though it doesn’t affect the playoff picture. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – North Bergen 14. GO CUTTERS GO!!!