THE GRIDIRON 9–2010

By Dick Engelhardt

In Big North Conference (BNC) Division II action last Saturday at SASSO FIELD, the CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High spotted the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside an 8-0 lead and roared back to notch a scintillating 40-16 victory! Captains Kelvin Rosario and Brendan Walis went out for the coin toss which Eastside won but elected to defer their choice to the 2nd half. Davon Johnson ran the kickoff to the 34 but our CUTTERS turned the ball over on downs. The GHOSTS drove for a TD and their 2 point conversion put them up 8-0. Johnson ran the kickoff to the Eastside 47 and Rosario electrified the crowd with a 47 yard TD run that was nullified by a penalty. No matter, Rosario scampered 45 yards for a TD and Tatekawa’s 2 point conversion run tied the score at 8. Fair Lawn never looked back! Behind center, Alex Callons, guards, Max Jacobs and Matt Paisely and tackles Tyler Argott and Adam Polisi, running backs Rosario, Tatekawa and Anthony Tozzi picked up yardage. Rosario’s 3 yard TD run had Fair Lawn up 14-8 at the half.

Tozzi continued to wear the Ghosts down with bulldozing runs and his TD run put Fair Lawn up 20-8. Bryan Turton’s interception led to a Tatekawa TD run and, with Callons snapping and Walis holding, Turton kicked the extra point for a 27-8 Fair Lawn lead. Tatekawa’s 18 yard TD scamper put our CUTTERS on top 33-8. Turton’s fumble recovery and 25 yard TD run after Rosario knocked the ball loose made it 39-8. Turton’s extra point kick made it 40-8 and the GHOSTS scored late in the game. On “D,” Kevin Benjamin, Callons, John Pagios, Paisely, Dave Pinuel, Junior Roberts, Demetri Rodriguez, Brandon Sibileo, Eric Simeonoglu, Turton, Mike Venezia and Michael Williams made nice plays. Kevin Osback recovered the ball in kickoff coverage and teamed up with Turton in breaking up a pass and Kevin Guy recovered a fumble. Our CUTTERS lead the 1947-54 independent, 1983 Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) and 2010 BNC Division II rivalry 6-4 (.600).

At this last scheduled home game the senior football players and cheerleaders were honored as I was privileged to introduce them with their escorts. Fair Lawn’s version of “Football’s Fabulous Females,” those Fair Lawn High Cheerleaders and their coach, Lauren Gimon, put on a great show all season, as did the junior varsity cheerleaders and their coach, Nicole Mattina! Christie Artinger, a member of Lauren’s 1st squad in 2002, has made the New York Jets Flight Crew cheerleading squad for the 2nd year in a row. Way to go Christie!

In the other BNC Division II games, the BULLDOGS of Passaic County Technical Institute clinched the title at 5-0 (1.000) shutting out the INDIANS of Passaic 26-0 and the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High beat the KNIGHTS of JFK of Paterson 44-20.

Friday at 7:00, in BNC Division II action, our CUTTERS travel to Bauerle Field in Paterson to take on those KNIGHTS of JFK. During 1951-56 and 58 Fair Lawn went 5-2 (.714) over then Paterson Central High. 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. Fair Lawn’s 12-8 victory in 2009 in North Jersey Tri-County Conference (NJTCC) action brought our CUTTERS’ record against Central/Kennedy to 7-3 (.700). Fair Lawn comes into the game 2-6 (.250) having been outscored 220-105 for an average 28-13 loss while Kennedy comes into the game 1-6 (.143) having been outscored 273-74 for an average 39-11 loss.

The Knights can’t be taken lightly and I’m sure our CUTTERS will make an all out effort to close out the regular season with a win. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 28 - Kennedy 6. GO CUTTERS GO!!!