Falcons Drop final regular season game 24-7

Game Summary

This was a gamed filled with “what ifs”. What if we didn’t turn the ball over twice in the redzone? What if we could have fielded a punt? What if we could have fallen down on a kickoff? What if we didn’t give up two touchdowns in the final 38 seconds of the first half? The simple fact is that we didn’t do those things, and we lost this final regular season game of the North Catholic football season by a score of 24-7.

Both teams played about even, with North having the edge over Wood in total yards (168-153), but Wood having a lopsided edge in capitalizing on North’s mistakes. North threw one interception in the Wood endzone, fumbled inside the Wood 5, turned the ball over when a kickoff wasn’t fielded, and muffed a punt inside our own 20. It’s mistakes like that which make winning difficult.

Defensively, the Falcons played well under the circumstances. Wood was held to only 152 total offensive yards, with only one scoring drive of more than 40 yards. But, with the defensive unit getting on the field with their backs immediately up against the wall, you have to wonder how they played so tough throughout.

Did You Notice…..

….That despite this being the final regular season game for North, there weren’t as many fans as you’d think would be in the stands? Guess many of those die-hards didn’t want to get wet.

….that the place-kicker from North kicked off twice, with the first reaching the Wood 5 and the second going about 4 yards deep into the endzone? Yes, he had the wind to his back, but he also has a pretty good foot. Maybe he should have played for our soccer team this year.

Kicker, John McCarthy

…..that the Super-fan box was one member short this week? Seems as though Tim Murphy was out catching a chick soccer game at the time of our football game. What’s with that? That is definitely cause for a demotion to apprentice super-fan. We may even take away his luxury suite at Piccoli this year for the baseball games.

….that really loud guy in the stands who was “encouraging” the referees most of the game? I’m sure they all went out after the game for a couple of brewskies

Faces in the Crowd….

…Just inside the gate, we ran into Ed McKee ’83. Ed’s a great guy who we usually only see on Thanksgiving. Ed noted that we have a wrong score posted on the football website. We’ll have to look into that.

….While chatting with Ed McKee, we saw John Musial ’63 entering the stadium to catch his falcons. John can usually be found at North football and basketball games. He doesn’t miss many.

…We ran into a classmate of mine at the game. First, we chatted up with Vince McAfee ‘82. Vince was there with his dad, Ed, who is a 1951 grad of North. Vince’s son plays for Wood, which explains the Wood jersey he was wearing. But, he sat on the North side with his dad and rooted for both teams. By the way, anyone who sat within earshot of Ed McAfee would have heard about some of the great stories and players Ed played with back in the day on a couple of championship teams at North.

Vince ('82) and Ed ('51) McAfee

….Classmate number 2, but number one in our hearts, Ken “Art” Rooney ’82, was at the game. Art drove up from Abington to catch the Falcons and he was caught chatting it up with his old freshman line coach, Jack Bygott ’71. After the game, Art and I headed back to Abington to throw back a couple of cold ones, reminisce about the old days, and catch some of the Penn State game.

…Taking a break from band practice was former player, Joe Brill ’80, from “Rose’s Cross” and “Sons of Dot” fame. Joe stopped by to say hello during the second half. Great seeing him at the game.

….As mentioned earlier, the Super-fan box was one member short this week. So, #1 fan, Ed White ‘55, spent the game with #2 fan, Mike Fagan ’57. Being an away game, Mike was able to enjoy the entire game from the bleachers, instead of at the gate collecting tickets.

Ed White ('55) and Mike Fagan ('57)

….The basketball team was well represented, with interim coach Guy Moore, enjoying the game with assistant coach, Tom Ballard ‘86. Also spotted in the North stands were several members of the varsity basketball team.

…spotted along the fence was Mr Koschineg, Father Waseline and Father Kilty

Mr Koschineg, Fr Kilty, Fr Waseline

….Finally, because of the open-air stadium and wide entrance, Mike McBride’s (class of ’81) melon was able to get in to see the game. By the way, there was an un-official measurement at half-time and it was determined that Mike’s head was only the second largest one in the stadium. The biggest was on the guy who was dressed like a giant tomato on the sidelines, who appeared to be taking pictures and taking stats. We’ll have to settle this on Thanksgiving morning.

Next Week….

Next week, the Falcons will host the Eagles of Conwell-Egan. At the time of this column, the date, time and location have not yet been determined. Stay tuned and come out to support the team in their final season as they begin the playoffs.