THE GRIDIRON 10 - 2015

 

By Dick Engelhardt 

Last weekend the injury depleted CUTTERS of Fair Lawn High made their fans proud as they beat the INDIANS of Passaic 35-21 in Big North Conference (BNC) crossover action at Boverini Stadium. Captains Dominick Barbarulo, Sefa Basci, Mike Laboy and Krystian Mejias went out for the coin toss and Passaic received. The INDIANS’ single wing formation had Fair Lawn old timers thinking of tailbacks Charlie “Choo Choo” Motta in the 40’s and Dave Sime (Who became “The World’s Fastest Human”), Ed Bucher and Bob Wright (Who went on to play for Army) in the ‘50s under legendary Fair Lawn coach, and Fair Lawn High School Athletic Hall of Fame member, Frank Bennett. With great defensive plays by Bradly Ramirez, Tyler Pollock, Larry Tobe and others, Fair Lawn took over on the 36 yard line and began a 64 yard TD drive. featuring great running by Ramirez and Pollock behind center Robert Figueroa, guards Alex Gutierrez and Laboy and tackles Lucky Abernathy, Tarron Douglas and Jon Rivkin. Ramirez’ TD run but Fair Lawn up 6-0. With Abernathy snapping and Damian Rongo holding, the sure footed Ryan Rue licked the extra point and Fair Lawn led 7-0. Fair Lawn’s next drive started from the 6 and was capped by Ramirez’ 64 yard TD gallop that had Fair Lawn up 13-0 at the half.

In the 2nd half, 2 fumbles returned for TDs had Passaic ahead 14-13. Not to worry. Tobe returned the kickoff to the Passaic 25 and Pollock’s TD run put our CUTTERS ahead for good at 20-14. Pollock’s TD run made it 26-14 and Ramirez’s 2 point conversion run behind a great block by Gal Harari, put Fair Lawn up 28-14. The INDIANS scored and trailed by 28-21 and there was no quit in them but, with 25 seconds on the clock, Ramirez’s 1 yard TD plunge and Rue’s extra point kick sealed the victory! The win brought Fair Lawn’s record against Passaic to 6-3 (.667). Former Passaic Coach Bill Curry said hello remembering the thrilling 39-38 Fair Lawn playoff win in 2009.        

Fair Lawn’s BNC Liberty Division went 1-3 (.250) against outside opposition, with only Fair Lawn winning. The champion BULLDOGS of Passaic County Technical Institute were edged 20-14 in overtime by the MAROONS of Ridgewood. The FIGHTING MUSTANGS of Clifton High were shocked 28-0 by the BEARS of Bergenfield with a Clifton player recovering a fumble and pulling a “wrong way Corrigan” scoring a safety for Bergenfield! It was nice to see my friend, Bergenfield announcer Howie Conklin again! The GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside were shutout 28-0 by the COMETS of Hackensack. The Division is 9-9 (.500) against outside foes so far.

This Saturday at 2:00 our CUTTERS will host the KNIGHTS of JFK of Paterson in BNC crossover action. It is the last scheduled “Home” game so senior players, cheerleaders and band members will be honored. The old Paterson Central was the Turkey Day rival 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 the COLTS of Central High. In 1988 the successor KNIGHTS of JFK 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 BNC 2010-14, Fair Lawn has gone 8-7 (.533) over Central/ Kennedy.

The KNIGHTS are 2-5 (.286) and have been outscored 172-89 for an average 25-13 loss. Fair Lawn is 2-6 (.250) and has been outscored 237-115 for an average 30-14 loss. Kennedy coach Ron Jackson has been known to run up the score while ahead late in the game as he did in last year’s 34-7 win. It’s payback time! From here it looks like Fair Lawn 28 – JFK 13. GO CUTTERS GO!!!