THE GRIDIRON 3-2012

By Dick Engelhardt

Captains George Alexandris, Kevin Osback and Jeff Welsh won the coin toss and the CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High roared out to a 13-0 lead over the FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High last Friday before losing a heart breaking 22-19 thriller in Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division action. Osback electrified the crowd intercepting a pass and galloping 85 yards for a TD putting our CUTTERS up 6-0. Osback threw a beautiful 17 yard TD pass to tight end Thomas Koike and With Mike Nieman snapping and Pete Danko holding, Ari Moslavi kicked the extra point. Our CUTTERS took the 13-0 lead into halftime and their fans were ecstatic!

The FIGHTING MUSTANGS scored twice to take a 14-13 lead but our “never-say-die” CUTTERS came right back as Osback threw a pass in the flat to speedy Corey Carlson who raced 76 yards for a TD putting Fair Lawn ahead 19-14. Late in the game a roughing the passer penalty put Clifton deep into Fair Lawn territory and the FIGHTING MUSTANGS plunged in for the TD and their 2 point conversion gave them a 22-19 lead. With 1:10 on the clock Osback and company tried to pull the game out. A long bomb intended for Alexandris was intercepted and the FIGHTING MUSTANGS took a knee to end the game. They knew they had been in a dog fight! The running game clicked behind center Kris Burger, left tackle Jeff Welsh, left guards Nick Perez and Scott Marcoux, right guard Brian Centeno and right tackle Mike Nieman. Great plays on “D” were made by Burger, Carlson, Centeno, Danko, Koike, Dan Laboy, Bill Nicudemos and Perez. Alexandris made a neat interception!

Clifton leads the 1972-81 and 2010-12 rivalry 10-3-1 (.769) including a State playoff victory in 1979. Our CUTTERS had won the regular season game that year 21-0.

Fair Lawn’s BNC Liberty Division went 1-1 (.500) against outside opposition. The Fair Lawn-Clifton game was the only one in the Division. The defending champion BULLDOGS of Passaic County Tech edged the COMETS of Hackensack 32-27 while the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside were beaten 28-6 by the MAROONS of Ridgewood. The BNC Liberty Division is 2-4 against outside opposition so far in 2012.

This Saturday at Noon at BAUERLE FIELD in Paterson, our CUTTERS take on the KNIGHTS of JFK of Paterson. 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 the Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division 2010-11, Fair Lawn has gone to 8-4 (.667) over Central/Kennedy.

Fair Lawn comes into the game 0-2. Our CUTTERS have been outscored 55-31 for an average 28-16 loss. The KNIGHTS are 1-1 (.500) and have been outscored 41-21 for an average 21-11 loss. I saw their ragged 21-14 win over the INDIANS of Passaic at the newly field turfed Boverini Stadium last week. With an all out effort our CUTTERS can win this one. From here it looks like Fair Lawn 20- JFK 13. GO GUTTERS GO!!!