Falcons lose star runner Byrd to injury

Trying to replace the school's all-time passing leader, Dennis Logue, is hard enough for North Catholic. But knowing that 1,000-yard rusher Eugene Byrd was back provided some comfort.

That lasted for about two quarters yesterday.

Byrd injured his ankle on North Catholic's first drive of the second half and did not return for the rest of the game, a 21-13 loss to Chestnut Hill Academy. Falcons coach Charlie Szydlik said Byrd "tweaked" an ankle.

Szydlik expects Byrd to be healthy for Saturday's home game against Archbishop Ryan.

"He'll be all right," the coach said. "But at this point, it was just safer to keep him out the rest of the way."

Byrd rushed for 57 yards on eight carries. When he first left the field, he spent a few minutes on his back as the trainers worked on the injured ankle, then paced the Falcons sideline. He spent the rest of the game sitting on the bench alone.

Losing Byrd changes the offense a great deal, Szydlik said. Ironically, with Byrd in the game, North Catholic scored zero points. After he was hurt, the Falcons scored 13.

Shawn Wilson and Taishan Tucker inherited most of Byrd's carries in the second half. Wilson rushed seven times for 10 yards, and Tucker gained 16 yards on three carries.

Even with Byrd in the lineup, North Catholic was operating a pass-heavy offense with Anthony Reid at quarterback. But when Byrd went down, Szydlik lost one of his best weapons.

"It changes a lot," Szydlik said. "He's a tremendous runner, especially when we run the zone offense. He's a great zone runner. He has great vision. It hurts losing someone like that. It's not easy to replace him."