THE GRIDIRON 13 - 2010

By Dick Engelhardt

Over the last few weeks I took in playoff and Thanksgiving games that brought back great memories to me as a Fair Lawn fan. In the opening round of the North Jersey, Section 1, Group IV playoffs, I saw the BRUINS of North Bergen edge the BULLDOGS of Passaic County Technical Institute 27-25 knocking Fair Lawn’s Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division out of the playoffs. Fair Lawn is 1-1 (.500) against the BRUINS having beaten them 14-7 in the playoffs in ’89 and lost 33-13 to them in North Jersey Tri-Conference (NJTCC) Division 3 action in ’09. Our CUTTERS lost 34-14 to BNC Liberty Division champion Passaic Tech this year. If that weren’t bad enough, the MONTIES of Montclair knocked Bergen County out of the Group IV playoffs beating the MAROONS of Ridgewood 38-28. During 1944-83 Ridgewood went 26-11-3 (.703) against Fair Lawn in the Thanksgiving Day classic. Fair Lawn, Hackensack and Ridgewood are the only Group IV schools in Bergen County and only Ridgewood made the playoffs.

I took a real “walk down memory lane” in the second round of the playoffs, going to O’Donnell Field in Mountain Lakes to see THE HERD come from behind 7-0 to beat the BEARS of Hawthorne 35-7 in North Jersey, Section 1, Group I action. Coach Marty Fischbein’s new CUTTERS went 1-1 (.500) against the then LAKERS of Mountain Lakes in 1943 and 44. Fair Lawn’s 13-0 victory in ’43 was the 1st varsity game ever for our brand new CUTTERS. After going 2-1 (.667) in JV action to get started, they posted a remarkable 4-1-1 (.800) varsity record! Those original CUTTERS and Coach Fischbein were inducted into the FLHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 along with this writer. Today the Mountain Lakes athletic teams are the LAKERS except for the football team, which is called THE HERD because of its tremendous numbers for a small school. Before FLHS opened in 1943, a handful of Fair Lawn students in the Maple Ave/Lincoln Ave area attended Hawthorne High. Our CUTTERS and the BEARS squared off independently in 1944 and in the old Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) 1945-55 with Fair Lawn going 9-3 (.750). My twin brother, Bill, and I were “waterboys” on Frank Bennett’s 1955 B-PIL champion CUTTERS team that shut out the BEARS 33-0.

On Thanksgiving Day, Fair Lawn fans enjoyed seeing Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division foes go at it in games that are still played on Turkey Day. I saw the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High shutout the INDIANS of Passaic 42-0 at Passaic’s Boverini Stadium. During 1972-74 independently, 1975-81 in the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) and 2010 in the BNC Liberty Division, Clifton has gone 9-2-1 (.818) over Fair Lawn, including a State playoff victory in 1979. Pete Natale’s CUTTERS beat the Indians 27-18 in 1st round playoff action at GIANTS STADIUM in 1980 and lost a 1985 playoff game 36-26 at Passaic. Stan Myles’ CUTTERS edged the INDIANS 39-38 in the 1st “Home” playoff game ever played at SASSO FIELD in 2009. In 2010 BNC Liberty Division action, Fair Lawn’s 25-6 victory put our CUTTERS up 3-1 (.750) against Passaic. At the game I met Lou Poles, the unofficial Clifton historian. He told me Clifton High opened in 1906 and began playing football in 1921. They played their football games at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson and Passaic School Stadium, now Boverini Stadium, until Clifton School Stadium opened in 1950. As the unofficial Fair Lawn High School Football Historian, I enjoyed swopping stories with Lou, who remembers watching Charlie “Choo Choo” Motta roaming THE GRIDIRON for Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS in that memorable 1947 B-PIL championship season. Fair Lawn shared the title with the GOLDEN BEARS of Lyndhurst and Bennett was “Coach of the Year.” Fair Lawn star 1965-66, Bruce Jankowski, once worked for Lou. Bob Morgan, Clifton’s renowned band director, told me that when the Delawanna section of Passaic annexed itself to Clifton years ago, the shape of Clifton as a horseshoe surrounding Passaic came about. Hence the nickname, “FIGHTING MUSTANGS!”

At Bauerle Field in Paterson, the KNIGHTS of JFK beat the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside 20-14 to lead the 86 year old classic 40-39-7 (.506). Fair Lawn has a special connection to Eastside. Before FLHS opened in 1943, most Fair Lawn students attended Eastside. Next week we’ll look at playoff finals from a Fair Lawn fan’s view point and then we’ll close out 2010 with comments on the season. Until then, GO CUTTERS GO!!!