Football

School founder Dr. William Mann Irvine anchored the start of Mercersburg’s athletic program with the sport that was his passion—football—in 1894. That first contest, an 18-0 victory over Chambersburg Academy, set a precedent that eventually spawned a program that at one point played more collegiate freshman and JV teams than high school teams. Contemporary times have brought team success as well, including three conference titles in Mercersburg's first league (the Mid-Atlantic Conference, or MAC), the 2005 Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship, and the 2021 Keystone State 8-Player Football League crown.

Recent graduates have gone on to compete at all three NCAA collegiate levels, with three reaching the National Football League. Alumni have earned roster spots and playing time at schools ranging from the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, and Patriot League to the NESCAC and Centennial Conferences. Vincent Rey ’06, who starred at Duke, played nine years for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. 

In 2019, Mercersburg joined a growing number of preparatory and public schools across the country in a move to eight-player football, which is a more wide-open version of the sport played with eight players per side. (More than 1,100 teams nationwide play eight-player football.) The KSFL, which includes Mercersburg and six other schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., includes a regular season and a season-ending playoff tournament. Mercersburg has appeared in the league championship game both times it has been held.

The team’s game field and bleachers/press box are located inside the Curran Track in the center of campus. A separate practice field is used for daily sessions during the week.