Arlington high schools have a much less busy week of fall sports action ahead, but there are postseason tournaments still in progress for some teams.
There will be two football playoff games Friday night (Nov. 15) involving three Arlington teams, plus the semifinals of the Class 6 state girls field hockey tournament for the Yorktown Patriots.
With the Player of the Year and multiple other honorees, the Bishop O’Connell Knights were well-represented on this fall’s all-conference girls high-school soccer teams.
Sophomore forward Audrey McKeen, who scored a single-season team record 37 goals this fall, was chosen as the Player of the Year in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. She helped lead O’Connell to a 16-2-3 record, a Northern Virginia Independent Schools State Invitational championship (third in four seasons) and a second in the WCAC tournament.
Three high-school football teams from Arlington will play first-round playoff games in postseason tournaments Friday (Nov.15) with 7 p.m. kickoffs.
The Washington-Liberty Generals and Yorktown Patriots will meet in a 6D North Region contest. Washington-Liberty (10-0) will host the showdown.
After a disappointing runner-up finish in conference-tournament action, the Bishop O’Connell Knights bounced back.
The girls high-school team and second seed ended its season by winning the four-team Northern Virginia Independent Schools State Invitational with a 2-0 record.
It was a busy afternoon, with Bishop O’Connell High School girls teams playing in three different state-tournament contests at home last Tuesday (Nov. 5).
In the end, O’Connell teams won all three — soccer, field hockey and volleyball — to advance in the Division I private-school state competitions.
A young Bishop O’Connell Knights boys team placed fifth in this season’s Division I state private-school cross-country championships.
With three freshmen among the high-school team’s top six finishers, the Knights scored 161 points, trailing winner Potomac School (with 63) on the 5,000-meter Panorama Farms course near Charlottesville on Thursday (Nov. 7).
Arlington high schools have a much less busy and shorter week of sports action ahead, with final regular-season football games and playoff events for a few teams as the fall season has ended for a number of squads.
There will be one football game Friday night (Nov. 8) between the host Wakefield Warriors and Washington-Liberty Generals in an all-Arlington showdown. The Bishop O’Connell Knights and Yorktown Patriots play Saturday (Nov. 9).
A strong start on offense and big defensive play near the end of the football game propelled the Bishop O’Connell Knights to a road victory on Saturday (Nov. 2).
Visiting O’Connell (2-7, 1-2) led from start to finish but had to hang on to defeat the Bishop Ireton Cardinals, 17-13, in a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) Metro Division high-school contest in Alexandria.
Arlington high schools have a full week of sports ahead, including many playoff events.
There will be no football games Friday night (Nov. 1) involving Arlington teams, because of the observance of a no-play date for Fairfax County schools owing to the Diwali Hindu festival.
The Bishop O’Connell Knights had middle-of-the-pack finishes at conference cross-country championship meets, but saw positive signs in the performance of ninth-grade runners.
The girls placed sixth and the boys eighth at the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference races, run Saturday (Oct. 26) on the 5,000-meter Kenilworth Park course in D.C.
A state-champion Bishop O’Connell Knights football team from the past was recognized during halftime at the high-school homecoming game on Saturday (Oct. 26).
A number of members from the 1983 O’Connell squad were present. They gathered at midfield for a photo as the teammates stood behind a banner noting the squad’s Virginia State Catholic championship won during that 1983 campaign.
Leading in the second half, there was a chance the Bishop O’Connell Knights might have ended their nagging, three-season-long losing streak against conference football rivals.
But it didn’t happen. The host Knights (1-7, 0-2) lost to the Carroll Lions, 34-17, Oct. 26 in a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Metro Division high-school game, its ninth straight league setback.
