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Upper Merion falls short to Lower Merion in an overtime thriller

Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| August 22, 2025

On Friday afternoon, the 2025 season got underway in Ardmore, PA. The Upper Merion Vikings took the trip to take on Lower Merion. This game was very back and forth, exciting, nonetheless. Lower Merion was able to take the win, 21-20 in overtime.

Things got started on the very first drive of the game. Upper Merion started with the ball on their own 15-yard line. After a couple drive extending plays the Vikings found themselves in Lower Merion territory. They capped off this drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Rudolf Wilhelm to wide receiver Isaiah Robinson.

Lower Merion found their way to a first touchdown towards the end of the first quarter. On a play where wide receiver Israel Ingram was found wide open downfield, quarterback Nate DeLuca placed the football right in the breadbasket for six. At this point we were all tied at seven heading into the second quarter.

Not much action happening through the second quarter, so that would take us to halftime. At the half, the score was 7-7, with 14 total points scored thus far.

Lower Merion started the game on defense, so they started out the second half with the ball. They found themselves in Upper Merion territory rather quickly. This led to them putting up a touchdown. Nate DeLuca found wide receiver Thomas Burke. That would be DeLuca’s second passing touchdown of the day, and Burke’s first of two touchdowns.

Upper Merion received the kickoff and found themselves just short of midfield. After a few plays they ended up past midfield around the 40-yard line. They gathered a very short, but productive drive. First play past midfield, Rudolf Wilhelm hits wide receiver Zion Smith across the middle for the score. Things were all tied up again, this time at 14.

Fast Foward to the fourth quarter, this game was bound to have a fun ending with the score even. Lower Merion had possession with a little more than 4 minutes left. Quarterback, Nate DeLuca releases it falling down and it is intercepted by Upper Merion linebacker Teddy Walmsley. Quickly, just at the start of the new Vikings possession, running back Nasir Harper chokes up the ball and in a sequence of turnovers the Bulldogs get the ball back.

Upper Merion forced a three and out late in the fourth. They got the ball with the clock just shy of two minutes remaining and eventually found themselves knocking on Lower Merion’s door with just 10 seconds to go. A field goal attempt ended up being the option to win the game, but a poor snap occurred and that took us to overtime.

The Vikings started overtime with the ball. They took advantage of this opportunity and punched it in for six. A short pass from Rudolf Wilhelm to Nasir Harper did it. The point after was no good. Lower Merion also cashed in on their opportunity in overtime on a touchdown pass from Nate DeLuca to Thomas Burke for his second touchdown. The point after was good, and that wrapped up the game.

Lower Merion steals this one in overtime, against an Upper Merion team who took a big jump compared to their other week one performances in recent years.

“The last four years we’ve had Conwell Egan two years in a row, Plymouth Whitemarsh coming in two years in a row. Two really good teams, you know and for us to beat those teams we have to play our very best games, and we still might lose. We felt coming into this game, the teams were comparable, you know it’s a great opportunity to start the season off with a victory. We are very proud of our guys, we fought hard, we played hard, we just did not do enough to get the win” said Upper Merion head coach Marquis Weeks postgame.

This game was not just week one of a new season because Upper Merion had one major change this season. That was the change in quarterback. Rising junior Rudolf Wilhelm had to step up to the plate and competed throughout the entire game.

“It was a great game all around, our line really showed up today, stepped it up. Defense came to play, making stops when we needed them too and everyone really wanted especially after last year. I think everybody’s going to have a better attitude with the outcome of this game, it was not what we wanted, but everybody showed up, competed and everybody is going to take that into these next couple of games,” said Wilhelm postgame.

Upper Merion falls short but will look to bounce back next week in their first home game of the season where they host Wissahickon.

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