Football fans in Arlington and Falls Church can find an official Penn State bar, a back room reserved for Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans and a tavern that calls itself the original West Virginia bar.
With college football already underway and the NFL season kicking off tonight, more than 30 local bars and restaurants told ARLnow what they plan to have on their screens this fall.
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.
Despite opening-game losses, the Wakefield Warriors and Yorktown Patriots had bright spots to expand on as the 2026 high-school football season kicked off.
Playing at home on Friday night (Aug. 28), Wakefield lost to the Falls Church Jaguars, 34-21, while Yorktown fell to the South Lakes Seahawks, 43-21, in non-district 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.
As the team’s third new head coach in five seasons, Brian Slay has set realistic expectations for the Wakefield Warriors in the upcoming high-school football campaign.
Slay inherits a squad that won few games the previous four years, and victories could be a challenge again this fall with a young, sophomore-heavy unit.
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.
Coming off a successful season last fall, the Arlington Youth Football Club is looking forward to more good things in the upcoming 2026 campaign as competition begins next month.
Practice began for the league on Aug. 11. Games are scheduled to kick off Saturday, Sept. 12 at Wakefield High School from 3-9 p.m. The season runs until early November.
With some key football players returning and others stepping up to replace graduates, the Washington-Liberty Generals are optimistic about having a fourth straight winning season.
The high school team is scheduled to open the 2026 campaign on the road on Friday, Aug. 28 at 4 p.m., facing the Bishop O’Connell Knights in an all-Arlington public-vs.-private-school clash.
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.
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.
Tanner Wall once more is in an underdog situation, having to prove himself all over again — and that suits the 2018 Yorktown High School graduate just fine.
The Brigham Young University grad recently signed a priority free-agent contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. He will compete for duties as a defensive back (safety) and special-teams player.
First as an assistant then as a head coach, Brian Slay has been impactful in helping high-school football teams throughout Northern Virginia improve and enjoy success in recent seasons.
He hopes to continue that trend as the new head coach of the Wakefield Warriors football squad in Arlington.
