THE GRIDIRON 10–2010

By Dick Engelhardt

In Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division action last Friday night at Bauerle Field in Paterson, the CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High edged the KNIGHTS of JFK High School 22-20 in a thriller! Captains Kelvin Rosario and Brendan Walis won the coin toss and elected to receive. On their 2nd possession, our heroes scored as QB Dan Prigge passed to Rosario to the 1 and then ran a QB sneak for the TD. With Alex Callons snapping and Walis holding, Brian Turton kicked the extra point and Fair Lawn led 7-0. Turton intercepted a pass and ran it to the 25. James Hegybeli picked up yards and Anthony Tozzi bulled his way to the 4. Hegybeli’s TD run and Turton’s kick had Fair Lawn up 14-0. Tozzi intercepted a pass and rumbled over 50 yards for a TD. From his holding position, Walis fired a 2 point conversion pass to Hegybeli and our CUTTERS led 22-8 at the half.

In the second half our heroes held on for dear life! The KNIGHTS scored and made it 22-14. Then, late in the game, they scored and a 2 point conversion would tie the game and threaten overtime. Tozzi, probably the biggest hero of the game, led Kevin Guy and a host of tacklers in stopping the runner in his tracks. If that weren’t enough, with :03 on the clock, the KNIGHTS threw a desperation pass from their 49 yard line which Sam Vovsi and Walis batted down at the goal line to save the victory. You could hear a “Whew!” emanating from the Fair Lawn faithful. On “D,” Matt Peligritto recovered Fair Lawn’s 2nd half squib kickoff. Kevin Osback grabbed the ball from a KNIGHT and ran for a TD that was nullified when the officials ruled it wasn’t a fumble. He also got off some awesome punts keeping the KNIGHTS at bay. Kevin Benjamin, Davon Johnson, Adam Polisi and Brandon Sibilio also made key plays.

Fair Lawn has played JFK and its predecessor, the COLTS of Paterson Central, independently 1951-56, in the playoffs in 1988, in a Consolation game in 2003, in the North Jersey Tri-County Conference (NJTCC) in 2009 and now in the BNC. This victory brings Fair Lawn’s record to 8-3 (.727) over Central/Kennedy!

The BNC has given its 6 Football Divisions and 1 other sports Division new names. Division I is the United Division, Division II (Fair Lawn’s) is the Liberty Division, Division III the Freedom, Division IV the Independence, Division V the National, Division VI the American (for football; for other sports it’ll be the Patriot) and Division VII (for other sports) the American.

Fair Lawn’s BNC Liberty Division saw its other 4 teams go against outside teams. They went 2-2 (.500). The BULLDOGS of Passaic County Technical Institute beat the COMETS of Hackensack 23-7 and the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside beat the BULLDOGS of Bergen Tech 28-14. However, the INDIANS of Passaic fell 34-14 to the MAROONS of Ridgewood and the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High, needing a win to get into the States, were forced to play the nationally ranked IRONMEN of Don Bosco. They had no chance and lost 48-13 in the latest installment of the parochial powerhouse versus public school travesty. In another, outside the BNC Liberty Division, St. Joseph walloped Wayne Hills 35-14. The BNC Liberty Division is now 6-18 (.250) against outside teams!

Our CUTTERS are home at SASSO FIELD Saturday at 1:00 against Vernon High School of the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), American Division in a Consolation Game. The VIKINGS and our CUTTERS are both 3-6 (.333). Fair Lawn has been outscored 228-120 for an average 25-13 loss. Vernon has been outscored 213-194 for an average 24-22 loss. I’m sure our CUTTERS will make an all out effort to close out the season with a win. Let’s all be there to cheer them on. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 21 – Vernon 14. GO CUTTERS GO!!!