FOR NOW, the last Falcon to score a Thanksgiving touchdown is a guy named Byrd.

And like a whole lot of other people, he now hopes his school, heading for oblivion, can do a U-Turn.

Capital letters were used for that last word because "U-Turn" is the called-by-all nickname of North Catholic senior tailback Eugene Byrd, the final hero, of many, in a football classic that featured one of the best stretch runs you could ever hope to see.

Add in the fact that this game could have been the last for North, targeted for closing this June by the archdiocese, and, well, folks will be talking about this one for at least as long as the series with Frankford has existed.

This was meeting No. 80 on Turkey Day (North leads, 42-34-4) and the 82nd in all (43-35-4) in this granddaddy of Public-Catholic neighborhood rivalries and one could make a strong argument, based on an assortment of clutch, late-game performances, that it featured three winners: North, Frankford, then North again.

As maybe 8,000 spectators at La Salle University roared and looked on in disbelief, there were a trio of lead changes in the final 2 minutes, 28 seconds as the offenses dug down deep for drives covering 67, 70 and 62 yards. Plus, conversion drama was mixed in.

The last flip-flop came with 13 seconds remaining when Byrd, a 5-8, 160-pound senior, caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from junior Anthony Reid.

John McCarthy's kick, at the north end through flimsy, off-kilter, portable goalposts, made the final score 28-22 . . . After Frankford had gone ahead, 22-21, on a 56-yard sprint, and conversion run - yes, the Pioneers eschewed a tying PAT - by Jeffione Thomas at 1:11 . . . After North had gone ahead, 21-14, on an 8-yard, right-corner pass from Reid to Julian Huggins, followed by Reid's conversion surge straight ahead, at 2:28.

Even if it were a meaningless game played before nearly empty stands, Byrd's TD hardly would have qualified as a ho-hummer.

It came on third-and-6 and the Falcons, though within field-goal range, were out of timeouts. After leaking out of the backfield, Byrd made the catch in the middle of the field at about the 10. If he'd been tackled, who knows how the Falcons' mad scramble to get everyone into position for a field goal would have turned out?

Byrd caught, turned, decided, sprinted. He wound up in the left corner of the end zone.

"I didn't want to stay in the middle and possibly fumble or get stopped on the 1-inch line," Byrd said. "I saw my man, [wideout] Tre Stone-Davis, over there and I knew he'd come back to give me a block. I used my speed - well, what little I had left [due to a tender ankle] - to get to the end zone.

"Phew, I don't think I'll be able to savor this moment enough."

The ordered play, understandably, considering the circumstances, called for a pass to a sideline or into the end zone.

"I looked and [Byrd] was in my field of vision," Reid said. "Wide open. I had to give it to him."

Said Byrd: "When we came out of the huddle, I said to Anthony, 'If the routes aren't open, throw me the ball.' I mostly had to stay in blocking on passes today. I put my trust in Anthony. He put his trust in me. I was where I said I'd be. The disciplined quarterback that he is, he found me. Then it was a matter of leaving everything on the field. Being a playmaker."

Frankford's final answer featured a trick-play pass to quarterback Michael McGroarty. Daniel Clark sniffed it out, made the tackle after a 4-yard gain and the Falcons exploded.

Maybe a couple hundred youthful spectators came pouring onto the field to greet the players and all began chanting, "We are, NC! We are, NC!"

Soon, players and coaches were gathering in front of North's filled-to-the-brim stands - the overflow occupied three sections on Frankford's side, plus there were standees four-five deep in front of Wister Hall at one end of the field - to join with students, teachers, grads, everyone imaginable, to belt out the alma mater one last time.

Or was it?