EVERY SON tries to one-up his father.
Heck, isn't that half the fun of being a boy, especially as the years zip by and cluelessness yields to perception?
Friday night at 7 o'clock, before what promises to be a large, energized crowd at Northeast's Charlie Martin Memorial Stadium, Mike Piscopo will have a chance to help La Salle High win a fourth straight Catholic AAAA football championship.
Piscopo, a 6-1, 190-pound senior, makes his most significant contributions at outside linebacker. But he also plays tight end and holds for kicks, and he has developed quite the reputation for putting the greater good ahead of personal accomplishments.
Let's face it, though. If the Explorers top Roman Catholic, Mike will go the personal route and bust the chops of his father, Tony, who starred at linebacker (13 tackles) in 1977 as Abraham Lincoln bested Frankford, 13-6, to seize its first Public League crown since 1958.
Tony was a junior that season. The 1978 campaign did not go quite as well, teamwise. Though Tony earned first-team All-City laurels, Frankford won the title-game rematch, 7-6.
In 2010, Mike was a part-time defensive player, used mostly in passing situations. Yet contributing is contributing, so he'd take the family lead in direct ties to league kingpins.
"My dad has a whole box of newspaper clippings," Mike said Tuesday, sitting on a low wall outside the school, awaiting the start of practice. "He used to show me that stuff when I was younger, but I didn't really understand. I didn't think they were too interesting.
"I like hearing about his career now. I try to learn off his experiences. Really, his friends are the ones who always pump him up. He doesn't talk about himself too much."
While the offense is always mentioned first, second and third, even fourth, when people discuss the Explorers, the defense has fought its way to praiseworthy status.
Coach John Steinmetz' unit has allowed an average of 12 points over the last five games. Its average over the first five was 22.
The starters on defense are ends Tyler Kern and Matt Maginnis, tackles Conor Resch and Dan Wasylenko, inside linebackers Sean Burke and John Palermo, outside linebackers Piscopo and Mike Eife, cornerbacks Dad Poquie and Chris Rocco, and safety Sean Coleman.
