THE GRIDIRON 14 - 2015

 

By Dick Engelhardt

In State Playoff Semi-Final and Thanksgiving Day action, Fair Lawn fans had plenty of rooting interests. Let’s look at some of the games.

In North Jersey, Section 1, Group V, Fair Lawn fans saw their 6 time Big North Conference (BNC) Liberty Division champion BULLDOGS of Passaic County Technical Institute edge the COMETS of Hackensack 10-7. The BULLDOGS are 6-0 against Fair Lawn. Hackensack leads the 1959-82, 2000 and 2010-15 rivalry with our CUTTERS 23-7-1 (.767). The MAROONS of Ridgewood beat the MOUNTIES of Montclair 24-17 in overtime. The 1966 Fair Lawn – Ridgewood Turkey Day game drew 13,000 fans to SASSO FIELD!

In Group IV, I saw the BRAVES of Indian Hills get beaten 21-14 by the PATRIOTS of Wayne Hills. That game interested me because, in the tentative lineup of the new North Jersey Super Football Conference (NJSFC) Freedom Division Blue, Fair Lawn is slated to be in with Indian Hills. Some tinkering could still go on in the set up. It was good to see former FLHS Band Director, Gordon Fisher, now doing a great job with the Indian Hills Marching Band! The GOLDEN KNIGHTS of Northern Valley/Old Tappan, another projected member of the NJSFC Freedom Division Blue, beat the INDIANS of Wayne Valley 42-20. Fair Lawn leads the rivalry with Indian Hills 13-12 (.520). Wayne Hills went 5-5 (.500) in the 1984-83 Turkey Day rivalry with Fair Lawn but took the overall rivalry 20-5 (.800). Wayne Valley took its series with Fair Lawn 10-5 (.667).

In Group III, the GREEN RAIDERS of Ramapo beat the INDIANS of Pascack Valley 35-13. PV is coached by Craig Nielsen, offensive coordinator at Fair Lawn 1980-85. He and Ramapo Coach Drew Gibbs are both class acts! PV took its Fair Lawn rivalry 14-10-1 (.583). Ramapo took its rivalry with Fair Lawn 17-11 (.607). The GOLDEN HAWKS of River Dell beat the defending champion SPARTANS of Sparta 28-21. In the only game ever played between the schools, the 1958 GOLDEN HAWKS beat our CUTTERS 26-13 with Bill Parcells playing at QB and running back.

In Group II, the Bears of Hawthorne lost a heart breaker 35-34 in overtime to the PANTHERS of Glen Rock. Fair Lawn took the 1944-54 rivalry with Hawthorne 9-3 (.750). Fair Lawn Coach Amir Saadah was defensive coordinator at Hawthorne before coming here in 2011. The THUNDERBIRDS of Mahwah beat the PANTHERS of Pequannock 28-7. Our CUTTERS took their rivalry with Mahwah 4-1 (.800).

In Section 2, Group II action, the BULLDOGS of Rutherford beat the HORNETS of Hanover Park 38-28. During 1959–63 in Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League (NNJIL) action, Fair Lawn went 3-2 (.600) over Rutherford.

On Turkey Day at Joseph Grecco Field at Clifton School Stadium, I not only saw Clifton beat Passaic 35-12 but I got the unexpected thrill of announcing “The Showband of The Northeast,” The Fighting Mustang Marching Band of Clifton High! Bob Morgan, back for a 1 season stint as Interim Director, is a good friend. It was nice to see former Fair Lawn assistant Doug Lemberg, now on the Passaic staff and the INDIANS freshman team coach. The GHOSTS of Paterson Eastside were edged 33-28 by the KNIGHTS of JFK. Before Fair Lawn High opened in 1943, most Fair Lawn students attended Eastside with Radburn area students attending Ridgewood High and Lincoln Avenue area students attending Hawthorne High. Fair Lawn’s BNC Liberty Division went 5-2 (.714) against outside opposition bringing its 2015 record to 14-15 (.483) with 1 game to go.  

Next week we’ll look at playoff finals action of interest to Fair Lawn fans. Until then, GO CUTTERS GO!!!