After he scooted into the end zone to give Cardinal O'Hara its first lead of the day Saturday in the third quarter, John Dempsey wildly slapped his hands against his helmet in celebration.

With North Catholic's offense struggling to gain anything, it looked like the fired-up senior running back had just done enough to give O'Hara a hard-fought win.

"I think we thought we already had the game," said defensive lineman Billy McMonigle. "We came out flat and we got beat."

North Catholic's Daryl Robinson put the Falcons ahead for good with his second touchdown reception of the day, turning a 10-yard fourth-quarter pass from Dennis Logue into a 47-yard highlight-reel touchdown as O'Hara fell to North Catholic, 13-12, in a Catholic League Red Division game at Frankford High School.

"I don't even know honestly what happened," Dempsey said. "We didn't execute. We shot ourselves in the foot. That's something that will get corrected. We will be back."

"I'm disappointed for them, I'm not really disappointed at them," said O'Hara coach Danny Algeo. "We made a lot of mental mistakes."

The biggest came a few drives after Robinson's second touchdown. After a punt from North Catholic's own end zone and a return from Chris Smith, O'Hara started from the 15-yard line.

A 14-yard pass from Tom Savage to T.J. Long put O'Hara one yard away from taking the lead back. O'Hara followed the big play with a 5-yard penalty and then North Catholic sacked Savage, turning what could have been an easy dive into the end zone into a field-goal attempt that sailed wide left.

O'Hara also had a missed extra point and Savage was sacked on a two-point conversion attempt.

"If we eliminate all the penalties and all the mental mistakes we're there," Dempsey said. "It's been tough. I have faith in all the guys and the coaches. We're going to bounce back. It has been very tough."

O'Hara's defense limited North Catholic to 36 yards on the ground. Logue passed for 138 yards.

Dempsey finished with 89 yards on 29 carries and Savage threw for 184 yards on 12-for-33 passing.

"We have the components of a great football team," Dempsey said. "We just have to put it together. It is going to come."