A blowout victory over the visiting Herndon Hornets has given the Yorktown Patriots the chance to win the Liberty District football championship in their final regular-season contest.
Yorktown (6-3, 5-0) will host Arlington rival Washington-Liberty Generals (7-1, 4-0) in a showdown Thursday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.
The teams are tied for first. A win would give the Patriots a 6-0 district record and the outright league crown. It would be a first in each case since 2021.
If the two-time defending champion Generals win, they could claim the solo title if they also defeat the Langley Saxons (6-2, 3-1) in their last regular-season clash a week later. There also is a possibility Yorktown — which has a bye the final week of the season — W-L, and Langley all could finish tied for first in the district with one loss each.
Against Herndon (2-6, 1-3), Yorktown won 42-7 the night of Oct. 24 in its second straight runaway victory. Patriots’ first-year head coach Alec Hicks said the team’s performance was its best overall of the season.
Herndon was limited to 167 total yards, with only 37 passing. Yorktown gained 320, of which 219 were passing, with quarterback Samson Schneider completing 18 of 24 throws for three touchdowns while running for 12 yards.
“We were thrilled with how we played, and I’d say that was our best all-around game,” Hicks told ARLnow. “Our defense pulled its weight, we spread the ball around offensively and the line was stout and played well. In the last couple of games our defense has firmed up and our offense is starting to click.”
Yorktown gradually pulled away from Herndon. The Patriots led 7-0 after the first quarter, scored 14 points each in the second and third periods and seven more in the fourth.
Schneider threw scoring passes of 33 yards to Sammy Keiser, eight to Brady Owens and six to Colt Monticello. The other touchdowns were scored on runs of 34 and 22 yards by Monticello and two yards by Nate Randles. Max Yoon kicked six extra points.
Monticello caught two passes for 34 yards and ran for 68. Randles rushed for 21 and caught two passes for 11. Owens had six catches for 74 yards, Keiser four for 64 and Alex Hans four for 36.
“We had good field position all game and that helped the offense,” Hicks said.
On defense for Yorktown, Bobby Shea led the tackling and pressured the Herndon quarterback. Teddy Sennott recovered a fumble, George Campbell led the linebackers’ play and Justin White had a strong game in the secondary.
NOTE: The win over Herndon assured Yorktown of its ninth straight winning season. The five district wins are Yorktown’s most since 2021 when the team went 6-0 to win the district title.
