THIS WEEK IN FLHS GRIDIRON HISTORY – Week 8

A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE

By Dick Engelhardt

Fair Lawn High School opened September 13th, 1943. This record covers years ending in 4.

1944 - Marty Fischbein’s CUTTERS beat the CARDINALS of Westwood 20-6 in independent action. During 1943-44 independently and 1984-85 in Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) interdivisional action, our CUTTERS went 3-1 (.750) against the CARDINALS.

1954 – Bennett’s CUTTERS beat the BUCCANEERS of Bogota 20-12 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 with the BUCCANEERS 6-3-2 (.667).  

1964 – Ed Sheehy’s CUTTERS beat the RAMS of Lodi 52-6 in independent action. - During 1964-66 Fair Lawn went 3-0 (1.000) over Lodi. Fair Lawn’s first football game in 1943 saw Coach Marty Fischbein’s brand new CUTTERS lose 7-6 to Lodi in JV action.

1974 – Al Reinoso’s CUTTERS were shutout 36-0 by the BEARS of Bergenfield in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (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). The 51-season rivalry remains the longest in either school’s history.   

1984 – Pete Natale’s CUTTERS edged the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo 22-20 in their return to the NBIL after 25 seasons in the NNJIL. of Ramapo took the 1956-58 and 1984-2008 Northern Bergen Interscholastic League (NBIL) Division 1 rivalry 17-11 (.607). Natale never lost to legendary Ramapo coach Mike Miello 1984-87.

1994 – Mike Alberque’s CUTTERS were beaten 43-21 by the COWBOYS of Pascack Hills in NBIL crossover action. During 1984-86 and 1994-98 our CUTTERS went 6-2 (.750) over the COWBOYS.

2004 – Greg Tanzer’s CUTTERS were shutout 21-0 by the BRAVES of Indian Hills in NBIL crossover action.  Our CUTTERS took the 1984-97 and 2000-2008 rivalry against the BRAVES 13-10 (.565). Indian Hills’ 45-8 win in Big North Conference (BNC) crossover action in 2014 closed Fair Lawn’s series lead to 13-11 (.542).