Fall roads lead to Roman

IT WASN'T the first time Kerry Shields ignored geography when choosing a high school.

Though he lives in Lawndale, not far from the intersection known as Five Points (Cottman, Rising Sun and Oxford avenues), and schools such as Cardinal Dougherty, Father Judge and even Bishop McDevitt would have made all kinds of easy-travel sense, Shields opted for North Catholic.

By now, you know what happened . . .

North went poof last June - for that matter, so did Dougherty - and Shields needed someplace else to call his high school home.

His new favorite colors? Purple-and-gold, baby. Helllllo, Roman Catholic.

"It just seemed like more things were pulling me here," Shields said. "And that I'd be more comfortable. That it would be the best fit."

Shields, a 6-2, 235-pound senior, is slated to start for Roman's football team as an offensive tackle, in addition to seeing backup duty along the defensive line.

In the new-experience realm, it's not as if he's going it alone.

Roman coach Joe McCourt - prominent, Shields said, in getting him to attend North during a stint as an assistant there - said his 2010 varsity includes nine players from North and three more from Dougherty. A whopping eight are expected to start.

Along the O-line, aside from Shields, you can find guards Khalif Jackson and Jolan Hardy and tackle Kyle McDowell (all CD). The other ex-Falcon starters are wideout William Fuller, defensive linemen Jack Schanz (end) and Tyrone Brown (tackle) and d-back Taishan Tucker.

Thirty-six percent of the starters. Not a bad haul.

But is there any bad blood? The new guys, don't forget, are claiming jobs that otherwise would have gone to holdovers.

"Actually, everything has gone pretty easy," Shields said. "All the Roman kids have been accepting.

"I could tell I made the right move when I first went to an offseason workout. Everything just looked, and felt, good. And when we started coming together as a group [for official practices], I kept thinking, 'We have a top-level team.' "

As Shields is the only senior among the former Falcons, feel free to call him the go-to-Roman ringleader.

"Once myself and a couple juniors decided we were going, we talked to the younger guys," he said. "Turned into a pretty big group."

Though hardly all-encompassing.

McDevitt, Archbishop Ryan, West Catholic and Judge are expecting to boast a total of 31 former North/Dougherty players on their varsity rosters this season, with 15 tentatively slated to start.

West added the smallest number (four, all from North), but three are ticketed for first-unit status and one, 6-1, 185-pound senior Anthony Reid, is the quarterback.

Reid can not only throw. His arm is good for twisting others', thus the presence of O-lineman Mike Makor, receiver Dave Sherman and in-the-mix rusher David Williams, a promising soph.

"My mom and I figured West would be my best fit for football and everything else," said Reid, who lives near Broad and Erie. "Once I decided, it was pretty simple. Bring Mike to block for me and Dave to catch my passes. And I knew David Williams from my Oxford Circle [youth football] days.

"I knew some of the West guys - like Jaelen [Strong-Rankin] and Brandon [Hollomon] and Josh [Mathis] - anyway. We'd hang out after their games and our games. And I got acquainted with the rest of the guys from seven-on-seven tournaments. The transition's going well. I trust them to block and they trust me to help get us down the field. Even though I'm in a new school, I still have to step up and be a leader."

The head coaches also have new homes. North's former coach, Chalie Szydlik, is now the offensive coordinator at Jenkintown High under his son, C.J., who had been an assistant under his dad. Dougherty's coach, Jim Grugan, is back at Conwell-Egan as an assistant.

The most prominent Dougherty underclassman, Nick Newman, opted for McDevitt. Now a 5-7, 140-pound junior, last year he earned coaches' All-Catholic honors at wideout (first team) and defensive back (second team).

Owing to a late physical, he missed Week One. But now he's roaring ahead.

Also likely to start for the Lancers (perhaps even both ways) are four North imports - Shane Killian (lineman), Nick Perez (WR/DB), Sean Reidy (end) and Chris Haas (WR/DB).

Said Newman, who lives near Wister and Chelten, in Germantown: "I thought about West and Roman, but McDevitt made the most sense for me. A lot of people who are now seniors were coming over here. So I decided to do it, too.

"I feel like I'm a work-in-progress, really. Have to go through practices and see how it works out. But I feel I'll be able to help them out. It hurts not being a Cardinal anymore. At the same time, I'm happy to be a Lancer."

Nevertheless, Newman is proceeding with a hint of a cautious approach. After all, doesn't it always make sense to be realistic?

"I realize McDevitt was a pretty big rival for us," he said. "Coming over here, I thought maybe some guys would be turning their cheeks to us. Turns out, everything's fine. We're getting along. Maybe we'll have our little fights along the way. Who knows how guys are going to act? We'll get through it."

For Shields, who attended Presentation BVM, in Cheltenham (footsteps beyond the city limits), yet played his grade school football for St. William, in Lawndale, the journey to Roman (practice is held near the Art Museum) is not exactly proving to be a hardship.

"My dad gives me a ride," he said. "Or I take the train from the Cheltenham station."

For Shields, Reid, Newman and all the other former North/Dougherty footballers, the only thing to do is keep chuggin' along. While retaining warm memories, of course, of what used to be.

MOVING ON

The closing of North Catholic and Cardinal Dougherty has meant those players have had to find different schools. Here are the schools with the most players from each:

Archbishop Ryan: 6 from North, 2 from Dougherty; 5 projected starters

Bishop McDevitt: 5 from North, 8 from Dougherty; 5 projected starters

Father Judge: 6 from North, 0 from Dougherty; 2 projected starters

Roman Catholic: 9 from North, 3 from Dougherty; 8 projected starters

West Catholic: 4 from North, 0 from Dougherty; 3 projected starters