DALLAS - Father Richard Lapata was there when Bishop Lynch High School was born.

'I remember the first week we had temperatures of 104 degrees every day,' said Father Lapata, who spent two years in Dallas before he was transferred.

He now hold the title of President Emeritus at Fenwick High School

Father Lapata flew back to Dallas with Fenwick football players as the Chicago-area team came down to play a game against Bishop Lynch.

Bishop Lynch is a private Catholic school that was founded based on Fenwick's model, so the two schools have the same team colors, mascot (Friars) and fight song.

'Our kids aspire to be at a higher level, so we've got smart kids,' said Fenwick head coach Gene Nudo. 'I think they'll take it all in, but ultimately at 7:30 (Friday) night, they've got to play a ball game.'

As part of the 50th anniversary celebration, hundreds of students spent Thursday night at the Bishop Lynch gym, then bused over to Victory Plaza to be a part of WFAA's Daybreak show Friday morning.

Bishop Lynch's head football coach, Ben Dasch, was there and at the sleep-in the night before, so he was working on two hours sleep Friday night. In a game that looked a little like a scrimmage because of the similar uniforms, Lynch took an early lead, but lost to Fenwick 32-14.

'In a week like this that's monumental in your school's history, you want to put in as many hours as possible to try to make sure that everything goes the way it should,' said Dasch. 'So in spite of the fact that you lose a little sleep, in the long run, yeah, it's worth it.'

You only turn 50 once, and Bishop Lynch did it right.

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