With a strong 3-1 start, including two shutouts, the Bishop O’Connell Knights are seeing their best start in a dozen years.
The Arlington private high-school football team won its third-straight game by blanking the visiting and previously undefeated Northern Virginia Home School Centurions, 48-0, Sept. 26 in non-conference action.
The third time was the charm for golfer Logan Reilly over the summer when it came to two of the biggest golf tournaments the world has to offer.
First, the 2025 Bishop O’Connell High School graduate and current sophomore player at Auburn University qualified for the U.S. Open, played in June at the famed Shinnecock Hills Golf Club course in Southampton, N.Y.
Arlington’s high-school football teams each came away with a victory in Sept. 3-4 competition, and for the first time since the 2014 season, all four have at least one win after two games of a new season.
On Sept. 3, the visiting Wakefield Warriors (1-1) held off the Rock Ridge High School Phoenix of Ashburn to win 21-14 in non-district play, the host Washington-Liberty Generals (2-0) topped the McLean Highlanders, 17-7, in a Liberty District contest, and the host Yorktown Patriots (1-1) blanked the Ballou Knights (1-1) of D.C., 41-0, also in non-league action.
The Washington-Liberty Generals defeated the Bishop O’Connell Knights for the second straight season in an all-Arlington high-school football showdown.
Visiting W-L won the Aug. 28 non-conference contest, 35-21, in the fall opener for both squads. Because there is no field lighting at O’Connell, football games are played in the afternoon.
Victories have been few and sometimes far between in recent seasons for the Bishop O’Connell Knights’ varsity football team.
The private-school squad hopes to change those results during the 2026 campaign, which begins with an afternoon non-conference home contest at 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, against the Washington-Liberty Generals in an all-Arlington showdown.
High school football in Northern Virginia is set for kickoff later this month.
Arlington’s Bishop O’Connell Knights, Wakefield Warriors, Washington-Liberty Generals and Yorktown Patriots open their 10-game regular-season campaigns, which include a bye week for each, on Aug. 27 and 28.
Arlington high-school track-and-field teams included one event winner, one runner-up and other top-10 finishers at the season-ending Class 6 girls and boys state meets.
The winner was Yorktown Patriots’ senior discus thrower Kaiya Ovando at the Virginia High School League event, held June 5-6 in Newport News. Her throw was a personal best and school record mark of 134 feet, 7 inches to win the girls event.
A season full of notable accomplishments for the Bishop O’Connell Knights culminated in winning the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) baseball tournament for the first time in 25 years.
The second seed won the tournament with a 5-1 record, clinching the crown by defeating the top seed St. Paul VI Catholic Panthers in the deciding contest of a three-game championship series played at the University of Maryland.
As anticipated, the championship game of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference girls softball tournament was a close contest.
Top seed St. Paul VI Catholic Panthers battled it out with second-seeded and four-time defending champion Bishop O’Connell Knights. During the regular season, the high-school rivals had split two low-scoring, one-run games, the first in extra innings.
A number of local high-school teams recently warmed up for postseason track-and-field competition by participating in regional events.
Among them were the Bishop O’Connell Knights boys and girls units. Each had strong performances at the 43rd annual multi-team Draper Invitational at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School in Alexandria on May 1-2.
Numerous Arlington athletes were represented on public and private “all-state” high school teams for success in the winter season.
In basketball on the public-school level, there was one Arlington player each chosen for girls and boys Virginia High School League Class 6 all-state teams. That hasn’t happened frequently over the years.
Multiple blowout victories have made the start to the 2026 high-school baseball season uniquely significant for the Bishop O’Connell Knights this spring.
The private-school squad, led by a number of players who have committed to play the sport at Division I colleges, hasn’t opened a season with so many lopsided wins in many years.
