The Yorktown Patriots are hungry for the 2026 high-school football season to bring more of the same, if not better, under second-year head coach Alec Hicks.
Under Hicks in 2025, the Patriots finished 7-4 overall, won the Liberty District title with a 6-0 record, were 2-0 against Arlington County rivals and earned a region-tournament playoff berth.
The team is optimistic about the upcoming fall season because it returns some key players, including senior running back Jack Ezzedin, senior receiver Boston Izzo, senior cornerback/running back Nate Randles and a number of linemen.
Yorktown opens the season at home on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. against the South Lakes Seahawks in non-district action. The Patriots lost twice to South Lakes last fall, first in their away season opener, then in a region-playoff first-round contest.
The teams have met often in recent years, trading victories.
“Things start tough with South Lakes. We’ve had a lot of battles with South Lakes over the years, so we respect their program a lot,” Hicks told ARLnow.
Yorktown’s first three games are at home. After the South Lakes showdown come non-district contests against Ballou from D.C. and the Centreville Wildcats — a 2025 region-playoff semifinalist.
“There are some tough opponents, but with three straight home games we have the chance for a good start,” Hicks said.
Yorktown was 1-2 after three games last season, also losing on the road to Centreville in week three. The Patriots bounced back to win their first three district contests and were victorious in six of the final seven regular-season games.
Leading Yorktown as quarterback this season will be senior Jack McCorry, the backup last fall when he also was a starting defensive back. Hicks said McCorry will be just the quarterback this season, in a plan to keep him healthy.
“Jack throws a nice ball and is a fast and strong runner,” Hicks said.
Other key contributors are expected to be senior tight end/linebacker Alex Len, senior offensive linemen Luke Colbert and Shane Campbell, senior linebacker Jackman Finnerty and, also on defense, senior linemen Rowan Traille, Henry Royal and Issac Eckrote. Senior Felix Gomez is the place-kicker.
A new Yorktown varsity assistant coach this season is offensive line coach Ben Knutson. The 6-foot-7 Knutson played in college at the University of Virginia and Tulane University.
“Ben has a lot of knowledge to offer us,” Hicks said.
In his second season as head coach, Hicks said things are smoother because the players are more familiar with his systems on offense, defense and special teams.
“Again this season, we want to play error-free and control field position, and make the other teams have to work hard,” Hicks said.
NOTE: Yorktown has enjoyed nine straight winning seasons, including four district championships during that stretch.
