North Catholic football program counts off the games

Archbishop Wood hosted North Catholic at Wissahickon High School Saturday for the regular-season football title of the Class AAA Catholic League Blue Division. In customary fashion, the public address announcer introduced both teams as they took the field.

"Please welcome your Arch-bish-op . . . Wood . . . Vikings," the announcer said first, receiving raucous cheers from the Wood cheering section.

Then the announcer turned off his microphone so the fans couldn't hear and whispered in the press box in a monotone voice, "And now the North Catholic – the final North Catholic – Falcons football team."

It was as if he were testing the phrase on a few before broadcasting it across an entire stadium. But whether the words are spoken or left unsaid, the heartbreaking truth remains the same.

With the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announcing that North Catholic and Cardinal Dougherty will close at the end of this school year, Saturday's 24-7 loss to Wood was the second-to-last regular-season game North Catholic will ever play. All that remain are the playoffs, which begin next weekend, and an annual Thanksgiving tradition - a face-off with city rival Frankford that will be held in its final year at La Salle University's 8,000-seat football stadium.

North Catholic coach Charlie Szydlik said his team is cherishing this final season and working hard to make it a memorable exit, winning three of its last four entering the playoffs.

"If it is our last year, we're going to go out playing hard," Szydlik said. "The kids are really giving a special effort."

But the coach also said he does his best to keep the team's focus on football and the short-term, especially because his players already are dealing with the school closing's repercussions on a daily basis.

"They have enough to worry about in a situation where their school's closing, they're battling in championship games, they don't know where they're going [next year]," Szydlik said. "I don't need to put more stress on them."

Falcons senior running back Eugene Byrd said the situation has been difficult on North players, but the workhorse back – who shouldered a 25-carry load in yesterday's loss – also said the Falcons are motivated to lift a storied North Catholic program to an appropriate conclusion.

"Honestly, the mind-set is pretty much just finish the job of what everyone else started and just to finish off strong," Byrd said. "A lot of players are broken up about what's going on, but as a football team we try to put it behind us and finish out even stronger, because now it's even more important, and essentially the goal is just to win it all now."

Asked about the bigger picture of the school's closing and the team's playing in its final season, Byrd chirped, "That bigger picture comes after we win the championship." And he smiled, but he wasn't kidding.

Szydlik said he's relieved that the Thanksgiving Day game's location is set, but that he's not looking that far ahead.

"Hopefully we've got a lot more games to play before we get there," he said.

Around the Catholic League, fellow coaches are pulling for the Falcons, even if on certain days they do have to line up as opponents.

"My heart goes out to those kids, Charlie and their staff," Archbishop Wood coach Steve Devlin said. "It's a shame. . . . It saddens me what's happening to their school. There's a lot of tradition there."

And from the visitors' end zone during pregame introductions, North Catholic emerged slowly, the players walking together as a team determined on the field, carrying the weight of a season, a program, a lifetime of alumni and memories on their shoulders.

The public address announcer recited his introduction once and didn't like what he had heard himself say.

"It's so sad," he said. "It really is."

And then he proceeded to introduce North Catholic just as he had Archbishop Wood. Whether the words are spoken or left unsaid, North Catholic forever belongs in the Philadelphia Catholic League.