In the first Friday night lights game of the year, the Wissahickon Trojans football team pulled out an astonishing win against the Upper Dublin Cardinals in their home stadium, the Cardinal Nest, just across town.
For years, the Wissahickon and Upper Dublin rivalry has been competitive in every sport, whether it has been in soccer, baseball, track, even basketball where Wiss hosts the annual Silent Night. Although, this battle over Bethlehem Pike hits a high point when these two football teams go head-to-head in their season openers. Since 2012, Wiss football hasn’t won a game against the Cardinals. Year after year, they have faced close losses and tight games but haven’t managed to pull out a win.
Last year on August 23, the Trojans put up a good fight against the Cardinals in their season opener but fell short with a score of 38-21. Particularly this year, the Trojans’ Head Coach, Rory Graver, has made it part of the team’s mission to come back stronger each season. In the weight room, posters on the walls emphasize motivational phrases to beat Upper Dublin. Even with the extra motivation and their strong performances around the rest of the league, Wiss football has lacked respect from Upper Dublin because of this win drought.
This was all proven wrong on Friday, August 22nd, when Wiss football took on Upper Dublin for their season opener. Tons of Wiss students traveled across town, going all out decked in their whiteout gear to support their home team. The energy was high, and the intensity was there with the bleachers rocking with cheers. It was the type of energy that the players could feel from the field. Charlotte Ledoux (’27) described it as, “… really fun…even though it was an away game, the energy felt like it was at home.” She goes on to say, “Some of the plays were insane so everyone chanted and cheered a lot!”
The game started with Wiss taking a quick lead. One of these insane plays includes a 30 yd touchdown pass to #1, Xavier Johnson, with an airborne two-handed grab. Upper Dublin couldn’t catch them from that point onward and soon enough, Wiss ran away with a 21-16 win on the road.
Football wasn’t the only competition between these two teams that week. Wiss and UD also competed in the annual Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard food drive where the goal was to tackle hunger together. Both teams competed to raise donations for the cupboard in the weeks leading up to the game. Items included soups, juices, condiments, and much more. The winning team was announced during halftime of the game. With another victory, Wiss football raised 2,139 lbs of donations while Upper Dublin only raised 1,161 lbs of donations. Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard celebrated both teams’ donations as a win by commenting, “We are so grateful! Good luck to both teams this season!”
The future is looking bright for Wiss football with an extraordinary win against a tough rival. Since they managed to pull off such a strong win against a good Upper Dublin team, other teams in the league should look out for the Wissahickon Trojans.
