Published Monday, Nov. 17, 1997
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Lou Falconi: grace under fire
 Ed Farrell Scholastic Notebook  |
News of the death of Falconi's mother earlier that day spread prior to Farrell's WPIAL semifinal contest with Fort Cherry that evening, so the tragedy was common knowledge among Steelers' players, assistant coaches and fans, as well as the media.
And in spite of a gut-wrenching 25-24 setback in the closing seconds _ a loss that cost Farrell an opportunity to go on defend its back-to-back PIAA Class A crowns _ Falconi conducted himself with dignity and class.
Watching him from the Rochester High School pressbox prior to the game, I wondered how heavily thoughts of his mother weighed on his mind as he tried to concentrate on his club's most crucial game of the season. And although I profess to be an expert concerning very few topics, I can say with certainty that I could empathize with him: Little more than five years ago, cancer claimed my own mother.
And although there was no outwardly discernable display of discouragement from him throughout the game, I felt genuinely uncomfortable broaching the subject with Falconi afterwards, particularly considering the unique circumstances that led to the loss: a long-range field goal on mud-caked sod in the closing seconds, while one of his key players was sidelined for almost the entire second half due to injury in a game in which his club rallied from an early 15-point deficit to take a seemingly safe 24-15 lead midway through the third quarter, only to see it dissipate.
But Falconi, who sometimes exudes a swagger bordering on arrogance which he puts to good use as a motivational tool in leading his teams, was the picture of comportment.
`` ... I didn't think that kid (Fort Cherry's R.B. Hursh) would be able to do that with the muddy situation like that. ... He did the job, he's the hero.
``Ya gotta give them credit,'' Falconi said in praise of Fort Cherry. ``They didn't quit. They came through. They're a young team and they've got a lot of young starters and they did a great job. They played in adversity's face and they did the job.''
When the subject turned to his mother, Falconi explained, ``She'd been fighting cancer for about two years now, and she was downhill the whole way. It's been a rough season.''
But quickly emphasizing, he continued, ``I don't think it had any effect on the kids' play, I don't think so. I think you've gotta give credit to this Fort Cherry football team more than anything else.''
Although he admitted to thoughts, ``off and on'' of his mother during the game, Falconi insisted, ``I tried not to have that be a problem for me. I don't think it was a problem, for my sake. I tried to show the kids that I was gonna be the same as usual, and I tried to do it as much as possible (Fort Cherry coach Jim Garry spoke with Falconi beforehand, but was genuinely surprised to learn afterwards of the situation and expressed condolences).
``But I don't really think that was a factor in the game,'' Falconi said. ``The factor was that they (Fort Cherry) had a good football team and they did not quit. They could've very well folded up, but they didn't, and I gotta give them credit.''
Falconi admitted ``tons of tears'' flowed from his players following the loss, and I vividly remember a poignant moment as he embraced his son, Louie, as the two tried to console one another.
And while watching father and son, I couldn't help but think, although I'd never had the privilege of meeting Falconi's mother, Lucille, that she must have been proud of the manner in which her son conducted himself Friday evening and how he assuredly would pass that trait on to his own children.
Greenville's undefeated season was shattered Saturday afternoon by Pittsburgh City League champion Perry by a 41-0 margin, the Trojans' worst beating in a dozen years. But in the aftermath, veteran head coach Bob Stone offered some semblance of a lighter side to an otherwise disappointing playoff weekend for a pair of Mercer County grid squads.
Asked by a reporter if, after his club trailed 14-0 at intermission, he felt a sense of ``urgency'' for his offense to answer with an immediate second-half score in its bid toward a comeback, the normally conservative Stone, who possesses a classic dry wit, paused thoughtfully, then replied through a wry grin:
``I felt urgency coming down (I-79) from Greenville this morning.''
Ed Farrell is a sports writer for The Herald
