Week Two - Falcons back on Track with win over Archbishop Ryan Game

Well, the Falcons licked their wounds after the loss to Coatesville in week 1, and promptly got over it and prepared for the Raiders of Archbishop Ryan. It’s good to see that a NE Philly Catholic League team is still willing to play the Falcons (yes, that’s a dig on the Crusaders of Father Judge). The Falcons got off to a slow start, but quickly recovered and dominated the Raiders, running up a 33-0 score by the end of the 3rd quarter. Coach Szydlik promptly took out the starters to give them a rest, as well as to give some of the young guys some playing time. It looks like getting kids into games is more important to coach than preserving a shutout. I can’t say that I would argue with that philosophy.

Did you notice……

…..that the field was surprisingly dry for this game. Remember that it was only 18 hours earlier when tropical storm Hanna blew through Philly. I wonder if the field drained so well due to the 4 foot crown in the middle of the field. Have you ever seen a field with such a lump in the middle?

…..that the numbers on some of the players were NOT the numbers that are listed on the roster on the website. Apparently, there was a problem with the jerseys that were sent out to be cleaned last week and some players couldn’t wear their normal numbers.

…..that one NC coach who was perched at the top of the bleachers really didn't need a headset as his voice was so loud that he had kids at Wissahickon were running the plays he was calling from Washington.

….that the aforementioned coach used the “brown word”, which was heard throughout the entire stadium. A couple of NC administrators’ ears went up when this happened, but we all know it was a heat of the moment type thing and he kept his language clean the rest of the game.

….that there were more North Catholic fans at this game then Ryan fans, despite the fact that it was played a short distance from Ryan and it was a HOME GAME for the Raiders (see pic above of Ryan's stands). What’s with that?

….that there was no National Anthem played before this game. But, unlike a few times last year, there was a flag on the flag pole.

….that there were random PCL coaches in the stands for this game. We spotted a couple of coaches from O’hara and a couple more from Judge. I know the O’hara coaches were scouting Ryan, but I’m sure the Judge coaches were there to make sure they made the right deicision in not playing the Falcons this year.

Faces in the crowd….

Showing up early to get a good seat was Super Fan II, Tim Murphy ’71 (see photo above). We believe Murph was there with his daughter, but we never did get introduced, so we’re not quite sure.

On the way out of the game, we ran into Super Fan I, Ed White, who is the current president of the NC Alumni Association. Mr White mentioned that the Coatesville game was a little too far for him last week. This could hurt his reign as Super Fan I.

Speaking of Super Fans, one guy can’t be overlooked. Mike Fagan ’57, was at his second NC game of the season. In addition to the North games, he’s also been spotted at the Lansdale Catholic-Downingtown East game last week as well as the Judge-Northeast game Friday night. This guy could easily move up the Super Fan charts if this keeps up. Stay tuned....

Drew Pierson (see pic above) found a few more friends for this game. Drew’s a good guy, so he doesn’t mind me picking on him during the year. (Actually, I think he likes the attention).

Jeremiah Glackin, a junior player on the team, had some alumni family members in the stands for the Ryan game. In addition to dad, Ed ’66??, Jeremiah’s Uncle Joe ’73 and cousin, Brendan ’06 in the stands watching the game. Brendan was taking a break from his studies at the University of Pennsylvania to catch this game. We’ll see Joe and Brendan at the Alumni Association meeting on Thursday. I wonder if they’ll also show up at Division 87 of the AOH’s monthly meeting on Tuesday.

Sitting in the top row was two former players (see photo above). Pete Sellecchia ’08 and Anthony Doria made it to Washington to catch the game. Last we heard, Pete, who played a part in the NC Championship basketball run last year, was attending VFMA, and Anthony told us that he’ll be going back to school in January after working very hard the past year. Great to see some former players.

Who was that guy in the North stands (see photo above) with the Boston Red Sox hat (at least it looked like a Red Sox hat from a distance)? If you're coming to a North game, wear a NC hat or at least something red. Next time, we'll turn you in to the school president for disciplinary action.

Finally, wandering the sidelines during the game was school principal, Father Waseline. He was chatting it up with Father Kilty, who spends his spare time coaching the NC track team and acting as the chaplain of the NC Alumni Association.