Frankford shortstop Israel Diaz and Neumann-Goretti's Albert Baur.

Frankford and Neumann-Goretti were just two of several schools in both the Public and Catholic Leagues which faced off  earlier this week as part of the 25th Annual Carpenter Cup Classic held in South Philadelphia’s FDR Park. The Catholic League won and advances.

The original Frankford High School building -- an annex of Central High School. Photo by Jennifer Reardon for Philadelphia Neighborhoods.

Dr. Thomas Mills, the current Frankford Alumni Association president, graduated from Frankford High School in 1948 with 477 other high school seniors. All but two of the 478 individuals were Caucasian males.

Terry Tobin, the Alumni Association’s financial secretary and treasurer, graduated from Frankford High in 1962. In his first year at Frankford, he witnessed the voluntary desegregation of the school.

Joe Farina, a first-year health and physical education teacher and a wrestling and baseball coach at Frankford, graduated in 2004. Frankford’s demographics during his last year there closely resemble the current statistics.

During the 2008-2009 school year, the most recent school year for which data are available, African Americans made up the majority of Frankford’s student population at 62.4 percent. At 9.9 percent of the student population, Caucasians ranked third. Latinos were second at 25.1 percent. The high school had 1,921 students enrolled that year, quite a jump from the 37 students who attended the Central High School annex its first year, September 1910, 100 years ago. continue reading »

After a tense game Thursday that ended early due to the rowdiness of Olney High School fans, Frankford High School basketball players left the gym victorious. And then, they were attacked.

As coach Ben Dubin told the Daily News, several players got hit, and he took a blow to the face. The first person to be attacked was an adult Frankford fan, as the group began to board the bus home. continue reading »

The “Northeast Rule,” the nickname given to the unofficial rule that in the past would have allowed the Northeast Vikings to play football playoff games on their home field, has been broken.

Passed last year, a new rule states the Vikings will no longer be allowed to host their own playoff games if opposing coaches feel it provides an advantage. This season, according to an article by Ted Silary, Frankford coach Mike Capriotti asked that the rule be enforced. continue reading »

“Wednesday, September 9, during a press conference held at the school’s library, Shaquille Duncan announced that he plans to attend Niagara University next year on a full scholarship. Duncan, a 6-foot-8, 198 lb. senior who plays center for Frankford’s basketball team visited several other universities including Robert Morris, George Mason, and Drexel before deciding on Niagara.

Niagara’s basketball coach has his roots in Philadelphia, something Shaq didn’t learn until this past week. Shaq said Drexel was near the top of his list of schools he considered, but he looked forward to attending school away from home, and Niagara seemed to offer the best opportunities overall. Yes, he was taken to see Niagara Falls and got “real wet.” Shaq is very optimistic about the upcoming basketball season. “I think we’ll be No. 1,” he said.”

Click here to see our complete coverage of the Northeast’s high school football teams in our High School Football Preview package.

NEast Philly contributors Pat McNally and Bill Achuff will have continuing coverage of the high school football previews for the 2009 season. First up is the public league. Below are stats and key elements for the four major public teams in the Northeast.

Click below for coach and player information, plus records from last year. continue reading »