Lasting memory for Falcons

In different ways, they really said the same thing.

"It's something no one will ever forget," was the way Anthony Reid put it.

"It's going to stay with me the rest of my life," Kerry Shields noted.

It was North Catholic High's final football game, played last Thanksgiving against neighborhood rival Frankford before a roaring throng at La Salle University's McCarthy Stadium.

Reid, a senior quarterback, now can be found at West Catholic. The new home for Shields, a senior offensive tackle, is Roman Catholic. But they'll be forever linked as part of a Falcon group that knew how to go out in serious style.

First things first: The guys still can't believe their old school is history. Really, how the hell did that happen?

Beyond that . . . North 28, Frankford 22. The Falcons rallied from a 14-0 deficit, surged ahead by 21-14, then found themselves down, 22-21, with 1 minute, 11 seconds left. They then drove 62 yards and won it with 13 seconds left on Reid's 20-yard pass to running back Eugene "U-Turn" Byrd.

Last Saturday, West scrimmaged Council Rock North. Among the spectators was Dave Shipton, a former North assistant.

"We were talking afterward," Reid said. "We were talking about how our team would be if we could all still be together. He told me I 'landed in the right place' at West. But, mostly, we were talking about that Frankford game."

He laughed. "Pretty much the whole time, really.

"It meant so much to all of us. We were down, then came back, then were down again. At crunch time, we got the job done."

Said Shields: "I think about that game a lot. Pretty much every time I think about football. To go out like that, it was just a great experience. It's always gonna hold a big spot in my heart."