Passing along some city high school football tidbits . . .
Taishan Tucker now owns two, bold-relief lifetime memories.
No. 1 occurred on Thanksgiving 2009 as North Catholic topped Frankford, 28-22, before a huge, rousing crowd at La Salle University in what turned out to be its final game.
With star rusher Eugene "U-Turn" Byrd momentarily injured, Tucker trotted onto the field and turned his first carry since September into a crucial, 5-yard touchdown.
"I'm still in contact with a lot of my former North Catholic teammates and coaches," Tucker said. "We still talk about that game."
Even during the school day, sometimes. That's because four ex-Falcons - Jack Schanz, Tyrone Brown, William Fuller and Collin Shields - all start now with the 5-9, 175-pound Tucker, a senior wideout/d-back, at Roman Catholic, and Saturday, in time, they had all kinds of fun.
With Tucker making four receptions for 116 yards and three TDs, the Cahillites scored the final 38 points over 25 minutes to stun St. Joseph's Prep, 45-17, in a Catholic AAAA semi.
Making the occasion even more notable: The quarterback was second-stringer Christopher Cruz, filling in for the injured Michael Keir. Talk about steering an offense into Cruz control. He passed 8-for-14 for 230 yards and five TDs (most ever in a city-leagues postseason game), and added a 62-yard rushing score.
"They were saying there'd be a game-time decision [on Keir], but everybody pretty much knew all week Chris would be the quarterback," Tucker said. "He was running the team in practice. Even when Mike's around, I'd say the balance on snaps is 60-40.
"Chris had a good week. We got our timing down and worked on little things. But to see what he did . . . I was as surprised as everybody else. My thoughts were like always. Put the ball out there and I'll go get it. Chris was doing it perfect."
Once, Tucker did not cooperate. In fact, he was guilty of a flat-out drop on the drive that helped the Cahillites create a 17-17 halftime tie. Who scored that TD? Tucker, on a 24-yarder.
Beforehand, he'd said toward the coaches along the sideline, "Come right back to me. Let me get it again."
"I just lost my focus. I should have been tougher than that," he said later. "But I have confidence in myself and I know the coaches do, too, so I was ready when the ball came at me again."
