Crowds were big and boisterous and marching bands played loudly in anticipation of the first all-Arlington public high-school football showdown this season — and the action on the field did not disappoint.
In a close game throughout, the Washington-Liberty Generals first rallied then held off the Wakefield Warriors to win 14-10 in a Liberty District battle.
There may be no trophy awarded to the winner of the unofficial Arlington County high-school football championship, contested each year between the jurisdiction’s three public-school teams.
But the Wakefield Warriors, Washington-Liberty Generals and Yorktown Patriots compete hard for bragging rights each fall.
After 26 years as Arlington Public Schools’ supervisor for health, physical/driver education and athletics, Debbie DeFranco has retired.
DeFranco — whose last day was Tuesday, following 34 years at APS — is being succeeded by former Wakefield High School principal Chris Willmore.
For the second straight year, the same two high-school golf teams from Arlington carded top finishes in the Liberty District tournament.
The county’s Washington-Liberty Generals successfully defended their title, with the first-round leader Yorktown Patriots placing second.
An atypical, and unplanned, winning formula has evolved for the Yorktown Patriots in the team’s past two football games.
Yorktown (3-2, 2-0) has won despite being outgained in total yards, but has countered with a takeaway and bend-but-don’t-break defense that sets up points for an offense that is running error-free.
The Washington-Liberty Generals saw their 18-game regular-season football winning streak tripped up in a 34-28 road loss to the Centreville Wildcats Friday night (Sept. 26).
Despite gaining 515 yards to Centreville’s 390, W-L couldn’t overcome errors and failed to convert on a late-in-the-game touchdown drive in the high-school game.
For two seasons now, the Bishop O’Connell Knights have won little during the early portion of their high-school football campaigns.
Through four contests this fall, the private-school squad owns a 1-3 mark, losing to the Washington Patriots (2-2) of Charles Town, W.Va., by a 29-14 score in its most recent contest, played the night of Sept. 19 in non-conference action.
A football season of resurgence continued for the Wakefield Warriors with their most recent victory during the early portion of the 2025 high-school campaign.
The host Warriors defeated the Justice Wolves, 33-12, the night of Sept. 19 to improve to 3-1 with a third straight win.
History was not on the side of the Washington-Liberty Generals in taking on the Westfield Bulldogs when the two undefeated high-school football teams met Friday night (Sept. 19).
Westfield (3-1) had never lost to W-L — nor had the games been close — in the eight times the non-district opponents played.
The fourth game of the regular season became the biggest and most important so far for the Yorktown Patriots, as a home victory earned the high-school football team a share of first place in the Liberty District.
Yorktown (2-2, 1-0) held on to nip the Langley Saxons, 21-20, the night of Sept. 19. Yorktown, Langley (2-2, 1-1) and the defending champion and undefeated Washington-Liberty Generals (4-0, 1-0) are the favorites to contend for the 2025 league crown.
The potential existed for the Wakefield Warriors to blow out the host Lewis Lancers in their most recent game of the high-school football season.
That didn’t occur. Instead, the Warriors won, 34-20, in a much closer result in the Sept. 12 non-district clash.
All finally was well for the Bishop O’Connell Knights, and the result was the team’s first victory of the football season.
In the third week of the high-school campaign, host O’Connell (1-2) defeated the winless St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes Saints, 38-12, the afternoon of Sept. 13 in non-conference private-school action.
