THE GRIDIRON 6 - 2015

 

By Dick Engelhardt 

Last Saturday the CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High put up a whale of a battle before losing 23-7 in their home opener at SASSO FIELD against the GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside in Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division action. A moment of silence was observed for Warren  Hills player Evan Murray, who passed away after being injured in their game last week. Then captains Dominick Barbarulo and Mike Laboy went out for the coin toss and Fair Lawn received. Runs by Bradley Ramirez moved the ball but a trick play on 4th down with punter Ryan Rue passing to Marc Terwilliger was incomplete. Heroic play by Laboy, Rue and Larry To be held the Ghosts on 3rd down and they kicked a field goal to lead 3-0 at the end of the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, on a nifty counter play, Ramirez raced 53 yards for a TD behind blocking by center Aaron Gutierrez, right guard Laboy and right tackle Robert Figueroa, who was filling in for injured Sefa Basci. With Terwilliger snapping and Barbarula holding, the sure footed Rue kicked the extra point and Fair Lawn fans were ecstatic with a 7-3 halftime lead. The GHOSTS went ahead 10-7 at 7:03 I the 3rd quarter and went on to score 13 more points sealing the victory. Our CUTTERS got to the Eastside 7 at one point when the drive ended in a fumble. Damian Rongo did a nice job at QB!  

Nice plays on “D” were made by Ramirez, who broke up 2 passes and made a key 4th down stop; Alex D’Angelo, Tarron Douglas, Jonathan Fochesato, Matte Forte, Tyler Johnson, who broke up a pass and made a key 4th down stop; Tyler Pollock, who recovered a fumble; Juan Rivera, Larry Tobe and others. The win brought Eastside’s 1947-54, 1983 and 2010-15 record against Fair Lawn to 9-6 (.600).

It was nice to see former Cheerleader Coach Lauren Gimon filling in for Melissa McInerney, who had a death in the family. The JV squad led by Melissa Maneri, looked great too. And former assistant coach Doug Lemberg, now with Passaic, was in the stands. The award winning FLHS Cutter Marching Band was great before heading off to competition in South Brunswick.   

On September 24th we lost one of the original “Cutters” as Bill Perkins died. He was one of the group that cut class and went to the Rivoli Theater in Paterson the day of the 3rd and final JV tune-up game before the brand new Fair Lawn High football team began varsity action in 1943. Coach Marty Fischbein held them out of the game. He put them in after halftime with Leonia up 12-0. Two of the “Cutters,” Jack Van Olden and Al Livingstone, literally won the game 13-12    and “The CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High” were born. 

Fair Lawn’s BNC Liberty Division went 1-0 (1.000) in crossover action as the defending champion BULLDOGS of Passaic County Technical Institute shutout the COMETS of Hackensack 20-0. The FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High drew a Bye. The BNC Liberty Division is 6-3 (.667) against outside opposition so far.

This Saturday at 1:00 our CUTTERS are home at SASSO FIELD against those BULLDOGS of Passaic County Technical Institute. The perennial BNC Liberty Division champs are 5-0 (1.000) against Fair Lawn since the rivalry began in 2010.  

Passaic Tech is undefeated and anxious to go far into the North Jersey, Section 1, Group V playoffs where they reached the championship game last year. The BULLDOGS are one of the premier public school teams in the area. It doesn’t appear that any team, except possibly the MAROONS of Ridgewood, will seriously challenge the BULLDOGS this season, at least until the playoffs. My only prediction is that our “never-ay-die” CUTTERS will go all out. Let’s all be at SASSO FIELD to cheer them on!  GO CUTTERS GO!!!