Football: Radnor-Lower Merion rivalry rich in history, impressive names

Lower Merion vs. Radnor, believed by many to be the oldest continuous public high school football rivalry in the United States, has featured some pretty impressive names during the past century. Ted Dean, who scored the winning touchdown for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1960 NFL championship game, has played in it. So has Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Emlen Tunnell. The 118th meeting between these two teams will kick off Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. at Lower Merion High School’s Arnold Field.

Lower Merion holds a 56-50-11 advantage. One of the reasons is the coaching of the legendary Fritz Brennan, whose Aces beat the Red Raiders every year from 1945 to 1956.

Up until the last 15 years, Lower Merion held the dominant upper hand in this rivalry. When the Aces won the 100th contest, a 27-20 victory in front of 6,000 fans at Arnold Field, Lower Merion held a 53-36-11 advantage. That game, which attracted national attention and was the final game of LM coach Rogers Frassenei’s career, ended when Lower Merion’s Kevin Dixon intercepted a pass in the end zone with 15 seconds left to preserve the win.

Since that day, Radnor has prevailed 14 of 17 times. The Red Raiders posted a record 10-game winning streak that came to an end in 2010, when the Aces’ won, 20-7. In 2012, Radnor broke its 20-game losing streak with a 35-7 victory at Arnold Field, and last year, Radnor prevailed by a score of 33-14.

Lower Merion-Radnor is not the oldest public high school football rivalry in the United States. That honor goes to Needham and Wellesley High Schools in suburban Boston — this rivalry began in 1882, but has not been held every year since. According to Wikipedia, the oldest public high school football rivalry in the United States is Boston Latin School vs. English High School of Boston, which have faced off annually since 1887.

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