THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2011 Week 8

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1951 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS beat the BUCCANEERS of Bogota 20-7 in Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) action. - Fair Lawn and Bogota shared the 1946 B-PIL title and our CUTTERS took the 1945-55 rivalry 6-3-2 (.667).

1961 – New coach Ed Sheehy’s CUTTERS ambushed the HIGHWAYMEN of Teaneck 39-6 in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action. During 1954-58 independently and 1959-82 in the NNJIL our CUTTERS went 17-11-1 (.607) over the HIGHWAYMEN. Fair Lawn’s 20-6 victory in 2009 in North Jersey Tri-County Conference (NJTCC) Division 3 action put our CUTTERS up 18-11-1 (.621) in the series.

1971 – Frank Devens CUTTERS were stung 33-16 by the HORNETS of Passaic Valley in NNJIL action. During 1944-46 and 1966 independently and 1967- 81 and 83 in the NNJIL, the HORNETS went 13-6-2 (.684) over our CUTTERS including a 20-0 shut out victory in the 1980 State playoff finals at GIANTS STADIUM after Fair Lawn had beaten the INDIANS of Passaic 27-18 in the first round.

1981 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS shut out the BEARS of Bergenfield 7-0 in NNJIL action. Fair Lawn took the 1945-48 and 1962-2008 rivalry 35-16 (.686) and the 1994-2008 Turkey Day rivalry 11-4 (.733). The teams squared off 1945-48 in the B-PIL, 1962-83 in the NNJIL and 1984-2008 in the NBIL. The 51 season rivalry was the longest in either school’s history.

1991 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS beat the HIGHLANDERS of Northern Highlands 26-12 in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) action. Fair Lawn took the 1986-93 and 1998 – 2008 rivalry 10-9 (.526).

2001 – Alberque’s CUTTERS scalped the INDIANS of Pascack Valley 27-12 in NBIL inter- divisional action. - Pascack Valley took the 1955-56, 1984-85 and 1988-2008 rivalry 14-10-1 (.583).

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2011-9

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, October 21, the Mustangs of South Western traveled to the den of the Lions of Red Lion in YAIAA Division I action and galloped to a 21-14 victory on the fleet feet of sophomore Dillon Thomas. The Mustangs sit alone at the top of Division I of the YAIAA and are in great shape to vie for the title.

The Lions opened the game with a 12 play drive for 34-yards, only to punt. The Mustangs went three and out and punted and the Lions returned the favor with their own three and out and punt. The Mustangs ran two plays and fumbled and Brooks Arnold recovered for the Lions at the Mustangs 28-yard line.

The Lions took full advantage of the short field. An incomplete pass was followed by a 28-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Klinefelter to Erik Althoff. Sure-footed Pete Pitilis drilled the extra point kick and the Lions were on top 7-0 with 1:18 to go in the first quarter.

The defenses prevailed for a while as the Mustangs and the Lions exchanged punts twice. Then the Mustangs punted again. The Lions started at their 20-yard line. Dan Althoff ran to the 32 and then the 35. Jeremy Loughlin caused Klinefelter to fumble as he was being sacked on the next play and Devon Ackerman recovered the ball for the Mustangs at the Lions 29-yard line.

Zach Gross was sacked at the 35-yard line but then threw a 10-yard pass to Jaelen Langenfeld. Mike Felton the scampered 18-yards to the 9-yard line and Thomas scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 9-yard run. The extra point was missed and the Lions still led 7-6 with 2:38 to go in the first half.

The Mustangs opened the second half pounding the ball down the field. Felton and Thomas took turns chalking up chunks of yardage as the Mustangs moved from the 24-yard line to the 47-yard line in five plays. Thomas topped it off with a 53-yard touchdown sprint and Felton ran in for a 2-point conversion. The Mustangs went on top 14-7 at the 9:52 point in the third quarter.

The Lions went three and out and punted. The Mustangs drove from their 31-yaed line to the Lions 36-yard line in eight plays, featuring a 9-yard run by Felton, a 5-yard run by Carnie Fryfogle, a 4-yard run by Reid Cruz, and an 8-yard pass from Gross to Thomas, only to fumble and have Ben Axe recover the first of his two fumble recoveries. The Lions ended up punting and the Mustangs punted after five plays and 21-yards.

The Lions took over on their 29-yard line and three plays later Mike Duffy intercepted a pass at the Mustangs 43-yard line. Four runs by Thomas brought the pigskin to the Lions 33-yard line. Thomas’s fifth run was a 33-yard touchdown jaunt and the all Thomas 57-yard touchdown drive and the extra point kick by Jake Tracy put the Mustangs up 21-7 with 9:49 to go in the game.

The Lions went three and out and threw an incomplete pass on a fake punt attempt. The Mustangs took over on the Lions 34-yard line, only to fumble three plays later and have Ben Axe recover his second fumble for the Lions. The Lions then drove 63-yards in seven plays, featuring five completed passes by Klinefelter. A 14-yard strike to Damien Hess put the Lions in Mustang territory at the 43-yard line. A 16-yard pass to Seth Haight moved the ball to the 20, a 12-yard scamper by Klinefelter got to the 8-yard line and Klinefelter threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Erik Althoff. Pitilis added the extra point kick and the Lions closed to within 21-14 with 5:05 left in the game.

However, that ended the scoring in the game. The Mustangs punted and the Lions had one more shot at it but a drive that started on the Mustangs 48-yard line was thwarted by a sack by Fryfogle for a three yard loss, two incomplete passes, and a turnover on downs.

The Mustangs were then able to run out the clock, ending the game by taking a knee.

Felton kicked off 4 times for 175-yards, with the longest going for 60-yards and a touchback, and he punted 7 times for 262-yards, for an average of 37.43-yards, with the longest going for 43-yards. Dillon Langenfeld returned 1 kickoff for 11-yards and returned 2 punts for 14 yards, with the longest going for 13-yards, twin brother Jaelen Langenfeld returned 1 kickoff for 8-yards, and 2 punts for 34-yards, with the longest going for 22-yards, Dillon Thomas returned 1 kickoff for 2-yards, and Carnie Fryfogle fair caught 1 punt, for the Mustangs.

Carnie Fryfogle led the defense again with 13 tackles (giving him a team leading 108 for the season) and a sack, followed by Keith Pappas with 11 tackles, Mike Felton with 10 tackles and a pass defense, Reid Cruz with 6 tackles and a pass hurry, Ryan Dotson with 5 tackles, a sack and a pass hurry, Jeremy Loughlin with 5 tackles and a sack, Chad Kolper with 4 tackles, 3 sacks and 2 pass hurries, Zach Townsend with 4 tackles, Devon Ackerman with 3 tackles and a fumble recovery, Rich Delea with 3 tackles, and Eddie Lane, Jerome Robinson and Bobby Wildasin with 1 tackle each.

Devon Ackerman, Alex Baugher, Logan Bowman, Reid Cruz, Rich Delea, Ryan Dotson, Carnie Fryfogle, Matt Hawn, Chad Kolper, Jeremy Loughlin, Aram Moffit, Keith Pappas, Brandon Stremmel, Dillon Thomas, and Zach Townsend, manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Mike Duffy, Mike Felton, and Jerome Robinson patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 273-yards rushing and 20-yards passing for a total of 293-yards of offense. Dillon Thomas led the Mustangs rushing attack with 27 carries for 201-yards (including touchdowns of 9. 53, and 33-yards), followed by Mike Felton with 14 for 57-yards, Reid Cruz with 1 for 20-yards, Carnie Fryfogle with 2 for 1-yard, Dakotah Moses with 1 for no yards, and Zach Gross with 2 for minus 6-yards. Quarterback Gross completed 5 of 8 passes for 20-yards, 2 for 10-yards to Thomas, 1 for 10-yards to Jaelen Langenfeld, and 2 for no yards to Felton, for the Mustangs. Felton ran in for a 2-point conversion, Jake Tracy kicked 1 extra point, Mike Duffy intercepted a pass and Devon Ackerman recovered a fumble, for the Mustangs.

The Lions gained 59-yards rushing and 149-yards passing for a total of 208-yards gained. Dan Althoff led the Lions rushing attack with 16 carries for 62-yards, followed by Erick Toscano with 2 for 5-yards, Erik Althoff with 1 for 1-yard, and Tanner Klinefelter with 11 carries for minus 9-yards. Quarterback Klinefelter completed 17 of 26 passes for 149-yards and 2 touchdowns, 7 for 58-yards to Erik Althoff (including touchdowns of 28 and 8-yards), 2 for 50-yards to Seth Haight, 4 for 20-yards to Mitch Baublitz, 1 for 13-yards to Damien Hess, 2 for 5-yards to Dan Althoff, and 1 for 3-yards to Toscano, for the Lions. Pete Pitilis kicked 2 extra points, Ben Axe recovered 2 fumbles, Brooks Arnold recovered 1 fumble, and Nick Kocman recorded a sack, for the Lions.

Toscano led the Lions defense with 15 tackles, followed by Axe with 14, AJ Hungerford with 9, Erik Althoff with 7, Arnold and Zach Nichols with 6 tackles each, Dalton Fishel and Kocman with 5 tackles each, Mitch Baublitz with 3, Don Gurreri with 2 tackles, and Dan Althoff, Roland Brown-Morrow, Haight, and Matt Wanbaugh with 1 tackle each.

The 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring half time performance, presenting their 2011 field show “The Colors of Dreams.” The relaxing mallet introduction led to the haunting sound of “The Dream is Collapsing” from Inception, followed by “Zooster’s Rebellion” from Madagascar, the sorrowful longing of “Hummel Gets the Rockets,” from the Rock, and the show closed with “The Burning Bush,” from Prince of Egypt.

The Red Lion Lions Marching Band put on a great post game performance with their show “24 Frames Per Second,” featuring themes from “Mission Impossible,” “Cadillac of the Skies,” “The Simpsons,” and “Psycho.” The Mustangs and Lions Cheer Leading squads were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 6-2-0 overall and 3-0-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 193-87-1 (.689) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 334-205-8. The results of the 547 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .620 winning percentage and a .625 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs will host the Bearcats of York High, William Penn (2-6 Overall, 1-2 league). The Bearcats are coming off of a 42-20 victory over the Rockets of Spring Grove (1-7 overall, 0-3 league). The Mustangs are looking to gallop their way on to victory. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 8–2011

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High started out strong and moved the ball well before our injury depleted heroes fell victim to an avalanche of points losing a 48-0 shut out to the SPARTANS of Paramus in Big North Conference (BNC) crossover action last week. Captains Andy Chorlian, Boris Lifshits and Steve Tatekawa won the coin toss and deferred the choice to the second half. Our heroes held with great plays by Pete Danko, Kevin Osback Franklyn Ramirez and others. Then behind center Kris Burger (who would later go out with an injury), guards Lifshits and Brendan Sibilio, tackles Brian Centeno and Jeff Welsh and tight end Nick Hickey, backs Corey Carlson and Tatekawa picked up yardage. Osback sneaked for a first down behind Burger. After a scoreless 1st quarter, the pounding and passing of the SPARTANS took its toll and the score ballooned to 48-18 by the end of the game. Our heroes never gave up and fine defensive plays were made by Malik Contee, Mike Nieman, Tatekawa, Laine White and others. The win brings the 1962-83 and 2010-11 record of the SPARTANS over our CUTTERS to 14-10 (.583). The shut out loss was the 84th in Fair Lawn’s 69 seasons and our CUTTERS have shut out their opponents 82 times. The Class of ’66 was in town for their 45 year reunion. Their ’65 CUTTERS, under new coach Frank Devens, went 8-0-1 (1.000) and won the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) title.

The game was broadcast live by MSG Varsity and Fair Lawn fans experienced commercial breaks for the first time! It could be watched on msgvarsity.com and, if you had them, TV channels 14 and 614 Monday night. At halftime the 2011 inductees into the Fair Lawn High School Athletic Hall of Fame were introduced. The Hall was established in 2006 and one of the initial inductees was the late athletic director 1944-78, Virgil “Virge” Sasso, after whom SASSO FIELD is named. Each inductee was escorted onto the field by 2 of Fair Lawn’s version of “Football’s Fabulous Females,” FLHS Cheerleaders under the direction of their coach, Lauren Gimon!

It was senior recognition Saturday for the band and color guard senior members who were introduced and escorted onto the field by parents and/or relatives. Then the award winning Fair Lawn High School Marching Band and Color Guard gave a stellar performance of their show, “Bound.”

Fair Lawn’s BNC Liberty Division played its games against outsiders. The FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High and the KNIGHTS of Paterson’s JFK drew byes. In two grotesque mismatches of parochial powerhouses against public schools, the BNC Liberty Division defending champion KNIGHTS of Passaic County Technical Institute were mauled 63-15 by the IRONMEN of Don Bosco and the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside were buried 54-0 by the CRUSADERS of Bergen Catholic. The INDIANS of Passaic were beaten 48-13 by the INDIANS of Wayne Valley. With Fair Lawn’s loss the weekend BNC Liberty Division record against outsiders was 0-4 bringing the year to date record to a dismal 2-16 (.111).

In a game moved up because of the unavailability of the field, our CUTTERS travel on Thursday night at 6:00 to BAUERLE FIELD in Paterson to take on the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside for the 11th time. The rivalry is sweetened by the fact that, until FLHS opened in 1943, most Fair Lawn students attended Eastside. A few students from the Columbia Heights section went to Hawthorne and the Radburn section students went to Ridgewood. During 1947-54 in independent action, 1983 in the NNJIL and 2010 in BNC crossover action, our CUTTERS have gone 6-4 (.600) against the GHOSTS.

Fair Lawn and Eastside come into the game 1-5 (.167). Our CUTTERS have been outscored 244-46 for an average 41-8 loss. Eastside has been outscored 153-35 for an average 26-6 loss. Our CUTTERS can win this game with an all out effort. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 14–Eastside 6. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2011 Week 7

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1951 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS were beaten 25-8 by the BULLDOGS of Rutherford in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action. During 1959–63 in the NNJIL, our CUTTERS went 3-2 (.600) over the BULLDOGS. Rutherford left for the Bergen County Scholastic League (BCSL) American Division in ’64.

1971 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS were shut out 27-0 by the COMETS of Hackensack in the NNJIL. During 1959-82 in NNJIL action, the COMETS went 16-7-1 (.696) over our CUTTERS. In 1959, Fair Lawn’s maiden season in the league, our CUTTERS won 27-6 and yet saw Hackensack take the title by half a game. Frank Bennett’s 1953 B-PIL champs shared the North Jersey, Section 1, Group III State title with the COMETS. Mike Alberque’s 2000 CUTTERS put up a whale of a battle before losing 14-6 to the nationally ranked COMETS in the States. The 12-6 Hackensack win in BNC crossover action in 2010 brought the COMETS’ record against our CUTTERS to 18-7-1 (.720).

1981 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS were shut out 39-0 by the CRUSADERS of Bergen Catholic in NNJIL action. In 1981 and 82 the CRUSADERS went 2-0 over Pete Natale’s CUTTERS. The unfair advantage the parochial schools had was the main reason Fair Lawn and Bergenfield left the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) in 1984 and returned to the Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL), which Fair Lawn had left in 1959. In 2010 in Big North Conference (BNC) crossover action the 49-7 win brought the record to 3-0 (1.000) with BC ahead 129-7 in scoring

1991 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS thrashed the GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/ Old Tappan 39-8 in NBIL Division 1 action. Fair Lawn took the 1984–2008 rivalry 15–10 (.600).

2001 – Alberque’s CUTTERS scalped the BRAVES of Indian Hills 14-7 in NBIL inter-divisional action. Our CUTTERS took the 1984-97 and 2000-2008 rivalry 13-10 (.565).

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2011-8

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, October 14, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Panthers of Central York in YAIAA Division I action and came away with a thrilling 26-20 victory. The Mustangs played the game with a heavy heart because one of their players, Ben Bynaker, was a victim in a murder-suicide last weekend. Ben’s father killed his wife, Tammy, and Ben, and then himself.

In a heartwarming spirit of unity in sympathy and support, every one of the 22 teams in the York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association wore a decal on their helmets this weekend, with a Mustang and the number 81. The Mustangs helmet had that decal and the black Mustang on each side, with the initials BB on one of them and the number 81 on the other. The Mustangs entered the field before the game from the isles of the grandstands and lofted white balloons after a stirring tribute to Ben by Stadium Announcer Carroll Granger. Just before the start of the game the entire Central York team lined up along their sideline and walked over to the Mustangs sideline to shake hands with all of the Mustangs. Needless to say there was hardly a dry eye in the house after this magnanimous gesture.

The Mustangs opened the game by going three and out and punting. The Panthers then drove 46-yards in eight plays, only to turn the ball over on downs at the Mustangs 27-yard line.

The Mustangs then drove 73-yards in twelve plays, featuring a 28-yard pass from Zach Gross to Keith Pappas, and ending with Mike Felton’s 3-yard touchdown plunge. The Mustangs were up 6-0 at the 2:30 mark in the first quarter.

The Panthers then drove 50-yards in five plays, featuring a 57-yard run by Marquis Fells, only to turn the ball over on downs again at the Mustangs 16-yard line. Rich Delea’s tackle of Sherief Sutton for a 7-yard loss was followed by 2 incomplete passes to end the Panthers’ drive.

The Mustangs then ended up losing yardage to the 11 and Felton got off a 58-yard punt. The Panthers then drove 70-yards in four plays, featuring a 57-yard pass from Brandon Baker to Jake Sinkovitz, and ending with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Baker to Jalil Ford. Tom Flinchbaugh’s extra point kick put the Panthers up 7-6 at the 9:23 mark in the second quarter.

Dillon Langenfeld returned the kickoff 19-yards to the Mustangs 44-yard line, but they ended up punting. The Panthers drove 86-yards in nine plays, featuring runs of 16 and 45-yards by Marquis Fells, only to turn the ball over on downs for the third time, this time at the Mustangs 4-yard line.

The Mustangs ended up punting and the Panthers started a six-play drive at the Mustangs 34-yard line. Baker threw a 20-yard scoring strike to Ford and the Panthers were up 13-6 with 37 seconds left in the first half.

The Panthers opened the second half at their 14-yard line with a 2-yard loss by Fells and then Jerome Robinson intercepted a pass from Baker for the Mustangs at the Panthers 30-yard line. The Mustangs’ six-play drive, featuring an 18-yard pass from Gross to Dillon Thomas, ended with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Gross. The Panthers were still up 13-12 at the 8:17 mark in the third quarter.

The Panthers then drove 62-yards in nine plays, featuring a 29-yard pass from Baker to Corey Hartz to the Mustangs 31-yard line and ending with Baker’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Hartz. Flinchbaugh’s extra point kick upped the score to 20-12 in favor of the Panthers with 2:02 to go in the third quarter.

The Mustangs then started a drive at the Panthers 37-yard line after a 32-yard kickoff return by Jaelen Langenfeld. Eight plays later the Mustangs turned the ball over on downs at the Panthers 9-yard line. The Panthers ended up punting and the Mustangs took over on their 40-yard line. Felton gained 2-yards to the 42-yard line and Gross threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Jerome Robinson. This made the score 20-18, still in favor of the Panthers, with 8:28 to go in the game.

The Panthers then went three and out and punted. The Mustangs then drove 56-yards in 15 plays, featuring a 7-yard pass from Gross to Pappas, and a 9-yad run by Dillon Thomas, and ending with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Gross to Robinson. Thomas ran in for a 2-point conversion and the Mustangs took a 26-20 lead for the first time with one minute left in the game.

The Panthers turned over the ball on downs in four plays, sealing the victory for the Mustangs.

Felton kicked off 5 times for 231-yards, with the longest going for 51-yards, and he punted 4 times for 171-yards, for an average of 42.75-yards, with the longest going for 58-yards. Jaelen Langenfeld returned 2 kickoffs for 32-yards, with the longest going for 25-yards, and twin brother Dillon Langenfeld returned 1 kickoff for 19-yards and returned 2 punts for no yards.

Carnie Fryfogle led the defense again as usual with 11 tackles (giving him a team leading 95 for the season), followed by Mike Felton with 8 tackles, Rich Delea with 7 tackles, 1 sack and 1 pass hurry, Chad Kolper with 7 tackles and a pass hurry, Keith Pappas with 7 tackles, Reid Cruz with 6 tackles, Zach Townsend with 5 tackles, Devon Ackerman and Jeremy Loughlin with 4 tackles each, Jerome Robinson with 3 tackles, and an interception, Ryan Dotson with 2 tackles, and Dillon Langenfeld and Eddie Lane with 1 tackle each.

Devon Ackerman, Alex Baugher, Logan Bowman, Reid Cruz, Rich Delea, Ryan Dotson, Carnie Fryfogle, Matt Hawn, Chad Kolper, Jeremy Loughlin, Aram Moffit, Keith Pappas, Brandon Stremmel, Dillon Thomas, and Zach Townsend, manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions, with help from Dakotah Moses. Mike Duffy, Mike Felton, and Jerome Robinson patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs, with help from Brandon Krise, Dillon Langenfeld, and Jaelen Langenfeld.

The Mustangs gained 132-yards rushing and 109-yards passing for a total of 241-yards of offense. Dillon Thomas led the Mustangs rushing attack with 20 carries for 69-yards, followed by Mike Felton with 19 for 56-yards (including a 3-yard touchdown), Dakotah Moses with 3 for 3-yards, Reid Cruz with 2 for 2-yards, and Zach Gross with 2 carries for 2-yards (including a 1-yard touchdown). Quarterback Gross completed 6 of 10 passes for 109-yards and 2 touchdowns, 2 for 64-yards to Jerome Robinson (including touchdowns of 58 and 6-yards), 2 for 34-yards to Keith Pappas, 1 for 18-yards to Thomas, and 1 for minus 7-yards to Felton, for the Mustangs. Dillon ran in for a 2-point conversion and Robinson intercepted a pass for the Mustangs.

The Panthers gained 196-yards rushing and 185-yards passing for a total of 381-yards gained. Marques Fells led the Panthers rushing attack with 13 carries for 143-yards, followed by Saladin Dickson with 6 for 30-yards, Sherief Sutton with 7 for 16-yards, and Brandon Baker with 5 carries for 7-yards. Quarterback Baker completed 11 of 24 passes for 185-yards and 3 touchdowns, 2 for 60-yards to Jake Sinkovitz, 2 for 55-yards to Corey Hartz (including a 29-yard touchdown), 5 for 37-yards to Jalil Ford (including touchdowns of 3 and 20-yards), 1 for 21-yards to Fells, and 1 for 12-yards to Travis Shaffer, for the Panthers. Thomas Flinchbaugh kicked 2 extra points for the Panthers.

The 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring pre-game performance, presenting their 2011 field show “The Colors of Dreams.” The relaxing mallet introduction led to the haunting sound of “The Dream is Collapsing” from Inception, followed by “Zooster’s Rebellion” from Madagascar, the sorrowful longing of “Hummel Gets the Rockets,” from the Rock, and the show closed with “The Burning Bush,” from Prince of Egypt.

The Central York Panthers Marching Band put on a rousing half time performance with their show “US Tour 2011,” featuring “Georgia on my Mind,” “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” “New York State of Mind,” “Philadelphia Freedom,” “Viva Las Vegas,” and “Surfin’ USA.” Unfortunately, wet field conditions forced both bands to perform on the track, with no marching. The Mustangs and Panthers Cheer Leading squads were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 5-2-0 overall and 2-0-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 192-87-1 (.688) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 333-205-8. The results of the 546 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .619 winning percentage and a .625 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs will visit the Lions of Red Lion (5-2 Overall, 1-1 league). The Lions are coming off of a 49-7 victory over the Rockets of Spring Grove. The Mustangs are looking to gallop and pass their way along on the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 7–2011

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High came out firing last Friday night at Clifton School Stadium and upset the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High 13-12 in a Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division thriller! Captains Nick Hickey, Boris Lifshits and Steve Tatekawa won the coin toss and our CUTTERS deferred their choice to the 2nd half. Kicker Aryeh Moslavi made a TD saving tackle on the kickoff and with great plays by George Alexandris, Corey Carlson, Lifshits, Kevin Osback, Franklyn Ramirez and Laine White, they held the Fighting Mustangs off. Kris Burger made a hellacious hit sacking Clifton’s talented QB and knocking him out of the game with an ankle injury. It wasn’t until 7:06 in the 2nd quarter that Clifton scored. Our “never-say die” CUTTERS came right back as Osback threw to Carlson for 2 big first downs. His picture TD pass to Hickey was nullified by a penalty but Osback bulled in for the tying TD and the Clifton crowd, expecting an easy win, grew very quiet!

In the 2nd half the Fair Lawn heroics continued. The teams battled back and forth and Alexandris’ interception led to Osback throwing a beautiful TD pass to John Pagios with 4:39 on the clock. With Mike Nieman snapping and Pete Danko holding, Moslavi kicked the extra point to put Fair Lawn ahead 13-6. With 1:16 on the clock, Clifton scored but a sensational stop on the 2 point conversion try by Lifshits kept our Cutters in front 13-12. Osback’s interception of a desperation Clifton pass had Fair Lawn fans screaming with unbounded joy! Fine defensive plays were made by a plethora of Cutters including Brian Centeno, Carlos Carlone, Danko, Andy Chorlian, Dan Laboy, Scott Marcoux, Brendan Sibilio and Jeff Welsh. Shame on me for predicting an 18-10 Clifton win! Once again privileged to announce the Clifton Mustang Marching Band and also to help the stadium announcer “spot,” I witnessed almost the exact opposite happen.

During 1972-74 independently, 1975-81 in the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) and 2010-11 in the Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division, Clifton has gone 9-3-1 (.750) over Fair Lawn. Our CUTTERS are 1-1 (.500) against Clifton in BNC Liberty Division play and this delicious victory is their first over the FIGHTING MUSTANGS since 1979 when Pete Natale’s Cutters shocked them 21-0 in NNJIL play before falling 30-0 to them in the States.

The weekend saw Fair Lawn’s BNC Liberty Division playing Division games. In addition to Fair Lawn’s win, the BULLDOGS of Passaic County Technical Institute beat the Knights of JFK of Paterson 35-12 and the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside shut out the INDIANS of Passaic 22-0.

On Saturday at 1:00 our CUTTERS are home at SASSO FIELD to take on the SPARTANS of Paramus for the 24th time. During 1962-83 in NNJIL action, the SPARTANS went 12-10 (.545) over our CUTTERS. It was a great rivalry that ended when Fair Lawn returned to the Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) in 1984. It resumed in 2010 in BNC crossover action and the 42-13 Paramus win put the SPARTANS up 13-10 (.565). This is the “Hall of Fame Game” and the 2011 inductees to the Fair Lawn High School Athletic Hall of Fame will be introduced at halftime. Fair Lawn comes into the game 1-4 (200) having been outscored 196-46 for an average 39-9 loss. Paramus comes into the game 3-2 (.600) having been outscored 103-73 for an average 21-15 loss. I know our CUTTERS will make an all out effort and I think thy can beat the SPARTANS. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 17 – Paramus 14. GO CUTTERS GO!!!

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2011 Week 6

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1951 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS stepped out of their Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) to edge the Passaic Valley Conference (PVC) COLTS of Paterson Central 19-18. Those COLTS are now the KNIGHTS of JFK. Paterson Central was the Turkey Day rival of the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside and most Fair Lawn students attended Eastside before FLHS opened in 1943. 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. During 1951-56 independently, in the playoffs in 1988, in a Consolation game in 2003, in the North Jersey Tri-County Conference (NJTCC) in 2009 and in 2010 in the Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division, Fair Lawn has gone to 8-3 (.727) over Central/Kennedy.

1961 – New Coach Ed Sheehy’s CUTTERS were beaten 19-7 by the TIGERS of Tenafly in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action. Fair Lawn joined the NNJIL in 1959 and the TIGERS made our undefeated CUTTERS play in a hurricane. In the only game played in North Jersey that awful day, Tenafly won 6-0. That loss, combined with the 13-7 Thanksgiving Day upset by the MAROONS of Ridgewood, gave the NNJIL title by half a game to the COMETS of Hackensack, who our CUTTERS had beaten 27-6. The TIGERS took the 1959-61 rivalry 3-0 (1.000) before leaving for the Bergen County Scholastic League (BCSL).

1971 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS shut out the BEARS of Bergenfield 7-0 in NNJIL action. Fair Lawn took the 1945-48 and 1962-2008 rivalry 35-16 (.686) and the 1994-2008 Turkey Day rivalry 11-4 (.733). The teams squared off 1945-48 in the B-PIL, 1962-83 in the NNJIL and 1984-2008 in the Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL).

1981 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS beat the BENGALS of Bloomfield 20-7 in NNJIL action. Our CUTTERS took the 1977 independent and 1978-81 NNJIL rivalry 4-1 (.800). In ’77 Bloomfield was not yet a full NNJIL member because of a commitment to play Irvington on Thanksgiving.

1991 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS edged the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo 19-14 in NBIL Division 1 action. Ramapo took the 1956-58 and 1984-2008 rivalry 17-11 (.607).

2001 – Alberque’s CUTTERS were beaten 34-20 by the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills in NBIL Division 1 action. The PATRIOTS took the 1984-2008 NBIL and 2009 North Jersey Tri-County Conference (NJTCC) rivalry 20-5 (.800). Fair Lawn’s last victory was in 1989 when Mike Alberque’s NBIL Division 1 champion and playoff bound CUTTERS thrashed Wayne Hills 35-8. The teams went 5-5 (.500) against each other in their 1984-93 Turkey Day rivalry.

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2011-7

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, October 7, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Wildcats of Dallastown at the Mustang Corral on Homecoming Night to begin YAIAA Division I action for the 2011 season and galloped to a 29-21 come from behind victory. The Wildcats led 15-0 at the half and the Mustangs stormed back in the second half to win the game.

The Mustangs started the game with a three-play drive that ended when Jack Margavitch intercepted a Zach Gross pass and returned it 28-yards for the Wildcats. The Wildcats drove 32-yards in eight plays, featuring a 12-yard pass from Andrew Henry to Josh Chronister, and ending with Henry’s 4-yard touchdown plunge. The extra point kick by Margavitch put the Wildcats up 7-0 at the 6:16 mark in the first quarter.

The defenses of the Mustangs and the Wildcats stiffened and they exchanged punts. The Mustangs ended up punting again and the Wildcats drove 56-yards in two plays, ending with a 52-yard touchdown jaunt by Andrew Quinones. The extra point snap was high and Quinones came to the rescue with a 2-point conversion pass to David Butler, upping the score to 15-0 with 10:15 to go in the second quarter.

The Mustangs turned the ball over on downs and the Wildcats punted, but Brooks Morrison recovered the muffed punt for the Wildcats. The Wildcats then turned the ball over on downs and the first half came to an end.

The Wildcats drove 35-yards in eight plays, featuring a 15-yard pass from Henry to Keith Matthews, but ended up punting. Dillon Langenfeld returned the punt for 45-yards, setting the Mustangs up on the Wildcats 29-yard line. Dakotah Moses gained 11-yards, then 3-yards, and Mike Felton finished off the three-play drive with a nifty 15-yard touchdown run. Jake Tracy kicked the extra point and the score was 15-7 at the 6:02 mark in the third quarter.

The Wildcats next possession was short lived and ended when Reid Cruz recovered a Wildcats fumble for the Mustangs. The Mustangs then drove 44-yards in five plays, featuring a 32-yard pass from Gross to Jaelen Langenfeld, and ending with a 5-yard touchdown run by Dillon Thomas. Gross then threw a picture perfect 2-point conversion pass to Fryfogle and the Mustangs tied the game at 15 with 2:12 left in the third quarter.

On the next play from scrimmage Felton intercepted a Wildcats pass, but the Mustangs couldn’t capitalize and turned the ball over on downs. The Wildcats ended up punting but Margavitch recovered the muffed punt for the Wildcats. The Wildcats drove 32-yards in four plays, featuring a 26-yard pass from Henry to Margavitch and ending with a 2-yard touchdown plunge by Quinones. The score went to 21-15 in favor of the wildcats with 9:11 left in the game.

The Mustangs then drove 60-yards in six plays. Gross threw a beautiful 44-yard touchdown pass to Reid Cruz and Tracy’s extra point kick gave the Mustangs a 22-21 lead with 6:07 left in the game.

The game was still up for grabs and the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs at the Mustangs 40-yard line with 1:20 left in the game. Dakotah Moses gained 3-yards and then Dillon Thomas sealed the victory with a 57-yard touchdown run. Tracy’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 29-21 and closed out the scoring with 1:05 left in the game.

Felton kicked off 5 times for 248-yards, with the longest going for 60-yards and a touchback, and he punted 3 times for 126-yards, for an average of 42.0-yards, with the longest going for 48-yards. Jaelen Langenfeld returned 3 kickoffs for 59-yards, with the longest going for 25-yards, Carnie Fryfogle returned 1 kickoff for 9-yards, and Dillon Langenfeld fielded 1 punt with a fair catch, for the Mustangs.

Carnie Fryfogle led the defense again (a fairly regular occurrence) with 20 tackles (giving him a team leading 84 for the season), followed by Mike Felton with 15 tackles, an interception and a pass defense, Keith Pappas with 12 tackles, Ryan Dotson with 8 tackles and a sack, Chad Kolper with 8 tackles, Reid Cruz with 7 tackles and a fumble recovery, Jeremy Loughlin with 7 tackles and a sack, Jerome Robinson with 6 tackles and a pass defense, Brandon Stremmel with 6 tackles, Logan Bowman with 5 tackles, a sack and a pass defense, Devon Ackerman with 5 tackles, Rich Delea with 3 tackles and a fumble recovery, Dillon Langenfeld and Dillon Thomas with 2 tackles each, Brandon Krise with 1 tackle and a pass defense, and Alex Baugher, Eddie Lane, Jaelen Langenfeld, and Aram Moffit with 1 tackle each.

Devon Ackerman, Alex Baugher, Logan Bowman, Reid Cruz, Rich Delea, Ryan Dotson, Carnie Fryfogle, Matt Hawn, Chad Kolper, Jeremy Loughlin, Aram Moffit, Keith Pappas, Brandon Stremmel, Dillon Thomas, and Zach Townsend, manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions, with help from Dakotah Moses. Mike Duffy, Mike Felton, Brandon Krise, Dillon Langenfeld, Jaelen Langenfeld, and Jerome Robinson, patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 198-yards rushing and 78-yards passing for a total of 276-yards of offense. Dillon Thomas led the Mustangs rushing attack with 9 carries for 82-yards (including touchdowns of 5 and 57-yards), followed by Mike Felton with 12 for 71-yards (including a 15-yard touchdown), Dakotah Moses with 8 for 37-yards, Reid Cruz with 3 for 4-yards, and Carnie Fryfogle with 1 carry for 4-yards. Quarterback Zach Gross completed 3 of 9 passes for 78-yars and 1 touchdown, 1 for 44-yards and a touchdown to Cruz, 1 for 32-yards to Jaelen Langenfeld, and 1 for 2 yards to Thomas, for the Mustangs. Gross through a perfect 2-pont conversion pass to Fryfogle, Jake Tracy kicked 3 extra points, Felton intercepted a pass, and Cruz and Rich Delea each recovered a fumble, for the Mustangs.

The Wildcats gained 212-yards rushing and 131-yards passing for a total of 343-yards gained. Andrew Quinones led the Wildcats rushing attack with 9 carries for 75-yards (including touchdowns of 52 and 2-yards), followed by Keith Matthews with 21 for 75-yards, Andrew Henry with 18 for 59-yards (including a 4-yard touchdown), and Andrew Heird with 1 carry for 3-yards. Quarterback Henry completed 11 of 17 passes for 131-yards, 7 for 77-yards to David Butler, 2 for 25-yards to Josh Chronister, 1 for 15-yards to Drew Romesberg, and 1 for 14-yards to Matthews, for the Wildcats. Quinones threw a 2-point conversion pass to Butler, Jack Margavitch kicked 1 extra point and intercepted a pass and returned it for 28-yards, and Brooks Morrison recovered a muffed punt, for the Wildcats.

The 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring post-game performance, presenting their 2011 field show “The Colors of Dreams.” The relaxing mallet introduction led to the haunting sound of “The Dream is Collapsing” from Inception, followed by “Zooster’s Rebellion” from Madagascar, the sorrowful longing of “Hummel Gets the Rockets,” from the Rock, and the show closed with “The Burning Bush,” from Prince of Egypt. The Dallastown Wildcats Marching Band put on a rousing half time performance with their show “The Music of Elvis,” featuring “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” “Burning Love,””CC Rider,” “Love Me Tender,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The Mustangs and Wildcatss Cheer Leading squads were very impressive as they roused the faithful. For the third quarter the Mustangs fielded the cheer leading squads from the middle school through the high school and nearly 100 cheerleaders performed in unison to put on an awesome show.

The Mustangs of South Western are 4-2-0 overall and 1-0-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 191-87-1 (.688) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 332-205-8. The results of the 545 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .618 winning percentage and a .624 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs visit the Panthers of Central York (5-1 overall, 1-0 league). Central York is coming off of a 49-0 victory over the Rockets of Spring Grove. The Mustangs are looking to continue their winning ways. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 6 – 2011

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High were idle last week. They were scheduled to play the CRUSADERS of Bergen Catholic but gladly acquiesced when Bergen Catholic asked if they could play the KNIGHTS of Friendship Collegiate Academy of Washington, D.C. instead. The CRUSADERS beat the KNIGHTS 48-32.

I took in the Clifton-Ridgewood game at Clifton School Stadium and was privileged to again be the guest announcer for the Clifton High School Mustang Marching Band, which they proudly dub “The Show Band of the Northeast!” While there, I helped the stadium announcer “spot,” telling him what player made the tackle, etc. It reminded me of when my twin brother, Bill, who moved to Pennsylvania in 1997, and I were the “spotters” for long time popular Fair Lawn announcer, Joe Hausmann for over 30 seasons ending in 1996. I became “The Voice of the CUTTERS on the Gridiron” in 1997.

In this Big North Conference (BNC) crossover game, the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High beat the MAROONS of Ridgewood 12-7. Former Fair Lawn assistant coaches John DiGiorgio and Robert Gentile are on the Ridgewood staff; Gentile is the offensive coordinator. In the other crossover games, the INDIANS of Passaic were stung 39-23 by the HORNETS of Passaic Valley and the KNIGHTS of JFK of Paterson were shut out 33-0 by the SOARING EAGLES of Union City. Fair Lawn’s BNC Liberty Division went 1-1 (.500) against outside opposition and is 2-12 (.143) so far in ’11. In the only BNC Liberty Division game, the KNIGHTS of Passaic County Technical Institute edged the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside 13-6

On Friday night at 7:00 our CUTTERS travel to Clifton to take on those FIGHTING MUSTANGS for the 13th time. 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. It started in 1972 when Clifton joined the NNJIL but was not eligible for a championship because an agreement to play Passaic on Thanksgiving prevented the FIGHTING MUSTANGS from playing a full league schedule. They ripped through the league undefeated 1972-74 and, in 1975, when they could have taken the title; the HORNETS of Passaic Valley upset them in Little Falls. In 1979, our CUTTERS shocked Clifton 21-0 in the regular season only to see the FIGHTING MUSTANGS shut them out 30-0 in playoff action! In 1980 Fair Lawn, Clifton and Passaic Valley shared the NNJIL crown and all 3 went to GIANTS STADIUM for the States. In the opening round our CUTTERS came back from 7-0, 12-0, 12-7 and 18-7 deficits to beat the INDIANS of Passaic 27-18 in the most thrilling game in their history to that point, while Clifton lost to Passaic Valley. In the finals, Passaic Valley, a team Fair Lawn had edged 7-6 during the season; shut our CUTTERS out 21-0.

Clifton comes into the game 3-2 (600) having outscored the opposition 90-62 for an average 18-12 victory. The FIGHTING MUSTANGS lost their first 2 games and have won 3 straight since. Fair Lawn is 0-4 and has been outscored 184-33 for an average 46-8 loss. I wish I could foresee a Fair Lawn victory but the tremendous Clifton depth figures to take its toll. I’m sure our “never-say-die” CUTTERS will make a heroic effort and I think they can keep it close. From here it looks like Clifton 18 – Fair Lawn 10. Who knows? If our heroes can keep it close, they might even win! GO CUTTERS GO!!!

THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – 2011 Week 5

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
By Dick Engelhardt

1951 – Frank Bennett’s CUTTERS beat the RAMS of Ramsey 26-20 in Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) action. Fair Lawn took the 1945-58, 1984-99 and 2002-06 rivalry by an astounding 28 games to 7 (.800) in B-PIL and Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) action!

1961 – New Coach Ed Sheehy’s CUTTERS drew a bye.

1971 – Frank Devens’ CUTTERS edged the SPARTANS of Paramus 16-14 in NNJIL action. During 1962-83 in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action, the SPARTANS went 12-10 (.545) over our CUTTERS. It was a great rivalry that ended when Fair Lawn returned to the Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) in 1984. It resumed in 2010 in Big North Conference (BNC) crossover action and the 42-13 Paramus win put the SPARTANS up 13-10(.565). The teams tangle October 22nd in the Hall of Fame Game at SASSO FIELD.

1981 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS were shutout 42-0 by the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High in NNJIL action. - During 1972-74 independently, 1975-81 in the (NNJIL) and 2010 in the Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division, Clifton has gone 9-2-1 (.818) over Fair Lawn, including a State playoff victory in 1979. The teams tangle next week at Clifton!

1991 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS edged the RAMS of Ramsey 10-8 in NBIL interdivisional action. - Fair Lawn took the 1945-58, 1984-99 and 2002-06 rivalry 28-7 (.800) in B-PIL and NBIL action!

2001 – Alberque’s CUTTERS beat the NORSEMEN of Northern Valley/Demarest 31-7 in NBIL Division 1 action. Our CUTTERS took the 1956-58 and 1990- 2008 Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) rivalry 13-9 (.591). The 40-0 NV shut out win in 2010 and the 48-10 NORSEMEN win in 2011 in Big North Conference (BNC) crossover action brought the record to 13-10 (.565) Fair Lawn.

SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2011-6

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, September 30, the Mustangs of South Western visited the YAIAA Division II Bulldogs of West York and were defeated 49-14. The 4-1 Bulldogs were not to be denied as the solid running of Mike Bell and Brock Snellbaker and the pinpoint passing of Kaden Hepler combined for nearly 500-yards of offense.

The Bulldogs opened the game with a thirteen play 66-yard drive, featuring a 20-yard pass from Hepler to Jerrin Toomey and a fake punt that saw Zack Smith gain 16-yards and a first down, but ending in a turnover on downs at the Mustangs 14-yard line. The Mustangs only got off two plays before Toomey intercepted a Zach Gross pass and returned it to the 4-yard line. Three plays later Hepler scored on a 1-yard plunge and Chris Markel’s extra point kick put the Bulldogs up 7-0 at the 5:21 mark in the first quarter.

The Mustangs went three and out and Mike Felton boomed a 60-yard punt. The Bulldogs started at their 7-yard line and drove 93-yards in five plays, featuring a 15-yard pass to Zack Smith and a 49-yard touchdown run by Mike Bell. Markel’s extra point kick made the score 14-0 with 2:43 to go in the first quarter.

The Mustangs got off 2 plays before Brock Gladfelter intercepted a Gross pass and retuned it 43-yards for a touchdown. Markel’s extra point kick upped the score to 21-0 with 1:19 to go in the first quarter.

The Mustangs then drove 60-yards in eight plays, featuring a 10-yard pass to Jerome Robinson and ending with a 35-yard touchdown scamper by Dillon Thomas. Jake Tracy’s extra point kick made the score 21-7 at the 9:42 point in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs came right back with a 61-yard drive, featuring Mike Bell’s 16-yard run, a 19-yard pass from Hepler to Toomey, and an 11-yard touchdown pass from Hepler to Zack Smith. Markel’s extra point kick upped the score to 28-7 with 7:33 to go in the first half.

The Mustangs fumbled the kickoff and the Bulldogs got the ball at the Mustang 40-yard line. Six plays later Bell scored on a 14-yard run. Markel’s extra point kick upped the score to 35-7 with 5:27 to go in the half.

The Mustangs punted after four plays and the Bulldogs drove 80-yards in twelve plays, ending with Hepler’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Smith. Markel’s extra point kick upped the score to 42-7 with 25 seconds left in the fist half.

The Mustangs fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half and Gladfelter recovered his second fumble for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs eventually turned the ball over on downs. The Bulldogs got it right back when Toomey intercepted his second pass. The Bulldogs again turned the ball over on downs. By this time both teams were substituting liberally. The Mustangs got off a booming 56-yard punt after a short drive. The Bulldogs punted.

The Mustangs drove 50-yards in four plays, featuring Felton’s 25-yard run and Felton’s 21-yard touchdown sprint. Tracy’s extra point kick made the score 42-14 with 9:27 left in the game.

The Bulldogs drove 66-yards in three plays, ending with a 55-yard touchdown run by Qy Hall. Markel’s sure-footed extra point kick closed out thee scoring at 49-14 with 6:44 left in the game.

Felton kicked off 1 time for 60-yards and a touchback and he punted 4 times for 215-yards, for an average of 53.75-yards, with the longest going for 60-yards. Jake Tracy kicked off 1 time for 45-yards. Jaelen Langenfeld returned 4 kickoffs for 83-yards, with the longest going for 35-yards, Felton returned 1 kickoff for 25-yards, Carnie Fryfogle returned 1 kickoff for 10-yards, and Jerome Robinson returned 1 kickoff for 8-yards, and Dillon Langenfeld returned 1 punt for minus 3-yards, for the Mustangs.

Keith Pappas, who had 11 tackles and a sack, led the Mustangs defense, followed by Reid Cruz with 11 tackles, Carnie Fryfogle with 10 tackles (giving him a team leading 64 for the season), Mike Felton with 7 tackles and a pass hurry, Ryan Dotson, Mike Duffy, Brandon Krise, and Rich Delea with 6 tackles each, Dillon Langenfeld with 4 tackles and a pass defense, Devon Ackerman and Jeremy Loughlin with 4 tackles each, Alex Baugher with 3 tackles, Jaelen Langenfeld with 2 tackles and a pass hurry, Aram Moffit, Jerome Robinson, Brandon Stremmel, and Zach Townsend with 2 tackles each, and Logan Bowman and Daulton James with 1 tackle each.

Devon Ackerman, Alex Baugher, Logan Bowman, Reid Cruz, Rich Delea, Ryan Dotson, Carnie Fryfogle, Matt Hawn, Jeremy Loughlin, Aram Moffit, Keith Pappas, Brandon Stremmel, Dillon Thomas, and Zach Townsend, manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions, with help from Dakotah Moses. Mike Duffy, Mike Felton, Brandon Krise, Dillon Langenfeld, Jaelen Langenfeld, and Jerome Robinson, patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 185-yards rushing and 16-yards passing for a total of 201-yards of offense. Mike Felton led the Mustangs rushing attack with 5 carries for 63-yards (including a 21-yard touchdown), followed by Dillon Thomas with 5 for 45-yards (including a 35-yard touchdown), Bobby Wildasin with 3 for23-yards, Brady Stevenson with 4 for 22-yards, Dakotah Moses with 5 for 11-yards, Nick Bond with 2 for 11-yards, Carnie Fryfogle with 6 for 9-yards, and Tyler Sterner with 1 carry for 1-yard. Quarterback Zach Gross completed 3 of 8 passes for 12-yards, 1 for 10-yards to Jerome Robinson and 2 for 2-yards to Felton, and quarterback Sterner completed 1 of 3 passes for 4-yards to Stevenson, for the Mustangs. Jake Tracy kicked 2 extra points for the Mustangs.

The Bulldogs gained 328-yards rushing and 164 yards passing for a total of 492-yards gained. Mike Bell led the Bulldogs rushing attack with 14 carries for 138-yards (including touchdowns of 49 and 14-yards) followed by Brock Snellbaker with 18 for 71, Qy Hall with 5 for 53, Kaden Hepler with 7 for 33 (including a 1-yard touchdown), Ross Campbell with 3 for 16, Zack Smith with 1 for 16, Steven Wilson with 1 for 4-yards, and Austin Bowser with 1 for minus 3-yards. Quarterback Hepler completed 12 of 18 passes for 164-yards and 2 touchdowns, 6 for 75-yards to Zack Smith (including touchdowns of 11 and 2-yards), 4 for 72-yards to Jerrin Toomey, 1 for 12-yards to Brandon Kinneman, and 1 for 5-yards to Jeremy Stauffer, for the Bulldogs. Brock Gladfelter returned an interception 42-yards for a touchdown and recovered 2 fumbles of kickoffs, Chris Markel kicked 7 extra points, and Toomey intercepted 2 passes, for the Bulldogs.

The 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring half time performance, presenting their 2011 field show “The Colors of Dreams.” The relaxing mallet introduction led to the haunting sound of “The Dream is Collapsing” from Inception, followed by “Zooster’s Rebellion” from Madagascar, the sorrowful longing of “Hummel Gets the Rockets,” from the Rock, and the show closed with “The Burning Bush,” from Prince of Egypt. The West York Area Bulldogs Marching Band put on a rousing pre-game performance, The Music of Elvis, including “Can’t Help Falling in Live,” “Burning Love,” “CC Rider,” “Hound Dog,” “Love Me Tender,” and “Jail House Rock.” The show ended with the announcement, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis has left the Building.” The Mustangs and Bulldogs Cheer Leading squads were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 3-2-0 overall and 0-0-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 190-87-1 (.686) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 331-205-8. The results of the 544 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .617 winning percentage and a .623 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs visit the Wildcats of Dallastown (2-3 overall, 0-0 league). Dallastown is coming off of a 7-6 victory over the Bobcats of Northeastern. The Mustangs are looking to gallop their way back to the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.

THE GRIDIRON 5 – 2011

By Dick Engelhardt

The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High were shut out 41-0 by the COMETS of Hackensack last week in Big North Conference (BNC) crossover action at Tom Della Torre Field, named after the late legendary long time Hackensack coach. Captains Boris Lifshits, Steve Tatekawa and Jeff Welsh went out for the coin toss. The COMETS took the opening kick off and our CUTTERS held with big plays by Brian Centeno, Brendan Sibilio and Thomas Koike. Fair Lawn’s first drive was stopped but Pete Danko’s fumble recovery put our CUTTERS in business at the 26 yard line. It was Fair Lawn’s best chance of the day to score but, alas, the drive stalled and the COMETS took over on downs.

Then the flood gates opened as our injury depleted CUTTERS fought hard but succumbed to the size, depth and speed of the COMETS. The halftime score of 35-0 had the clock continuously running under the special 35 point differential rule throughout the second half. The COMETS would score only once more as Hackensack Coach Mike Miello showed class by inserting subs. He could have held a grudge since, during 1984-87; Fair Lawn Coach Pete Natale’s CUTTERS went 4-0 against his GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo! On “D,” Matt Ferry blocked an extra point attempt, Tatekawa and Kevin Osback teamed up on a TD saving tackle, George Alexandris broke up a pass, Franklyn Ramirez made a great stop, and Laine White and others made plays. Osback boomed a punt all the way to the 8 yard line. Our heroes also blocked a punt!

During 1959-82 in the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) the Comets went 16-7-1 (.696) over our CUTTERS. In 1959, Fair Lawn’s maiden season in the league, our CUTTERS won 27-6 and yet saw Hackensack take the title by half a game. Legendary Fair Lawn Coach Frank Bennett’s 1953 Bergen-Passaic Interscholastic League (B-PIL) champs shared the North Jersey, Section 1, Group III State title with the COMETS. Mike Alberque’s 2000 CUTTERS put up a whale of a battle before losing 14-6 to the nationally ranked COMETS in the States. The 2-0 Hackensack lead in Big North Conference (BNC) crossover action in 2010-11 has the COMETS’ record against our CUTTERS 19-7-1 (.731).

The shut out loss was Fair Lawn’s first since our CUTTERS’ 21-0 loss to the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High last year. Since their beginning in 1943, our CUTTERS have shut their opponents out 82 times and have been shut out themselves 83 times!

In the only game played in Fair Lawn’s BNC Liberty Division, the KNIGHTS of JFK of Paterson surprised the INDIANS of Passaic 30-20. The league finally won a game against outsiders as the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High beat the KNIGHTS of Bergen Tech 35-16. In addition to Fair Lawn’s crossover loss, despite 268 year old “Thomas Jefferson” running for three touchdowns, the BNC Liberty Division defending champion KNIGHTS of Passaic County Technical Institute were upended 40-36 by the LANCERS of Lakeland. The GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside were shut out 7-0 by the BEARS of Bergenfield. The 1-3 (.250) weekend record against outsiders brought the BNC Liberty Division record in crossover action to 1-10 (.091) so far!

This week our CUTTERS have a Bye. They were scheduled to play the CRUSADERS of Bergen Catholic in yet another grotesque match up of a public school against a parochial behemoth and were happy to say “Go right ahead!” when Bergen Catholic asked if they could play out of State power Friendship Collegiate Academy of Washington, D.C. instead. In next weeks column, we’ll check out games of interest to Fair Lawn fans and look ahead to Fair Lawn’s appearance on Friday October 14th at 7:00 at Clifton Schools Stadium. Til then, GO CUTTERS GO!!!