Five high-school football players, all seniors, and one head coach from Arlington were chosen to 6D North Region first or second teams on defense for their performances during the 2024 fall season.
The first-team all-region selections were lineman Ben Hughes, linebacker Sean Guffey and all-purpose defensive player Ian Crowley from the Washington-Liberty Generals. Those three were leaders in tackles, sacks, deflected passes and other defensive categories for W-L.
Seven high-school football players from Arlington were chosen to 6D North Region first or second team on offense for their performances during the 2024 fall season.
The first-team all-region selections were Washington-Liberty Generals senior wide receiver Jon Malatesta and Yorktown Patriots junior tight end Brady Owens and Yorktown senior offensive lineman Aidan Vroom.
Arlington was well-represented, with players from the county’s three public-school teams among those chosen to the 2024 all-Liberty District high-school football teams.
Making first-team on offense were quarterback Matthew Abramson (Washington-Liberty), wide receivers Jon Malatesta (Washington-Liberty) and Finn Luca (Yorktown), tight end Brady Owens (Yorktown), and offensive linemen Sam Bekele (Washington-Liberty) and Aidan Vroom (Yorktown).
The 2024 high-school football season was plenty memorable, in multiple ways, for Arlington’s four varsity teams.
Two things from the season stood out as the most likely to be remembered in coming years:
Even though their team lost in the region final, Liberty District offensive football standouts Jon Malatesta and Matthew Abramson amassed big numbers in the game, as the seniors often did for the Washington-Liberty Generals during the 2024 high-school season.
At wide receiver, Malatesta had one last hurrah by catching nine passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in W-L’s 48-21 loss to the Madison Warhawks in the 6D North Region championship game Nov. 30.
The stingy play of the Washington-Liberty Generals defense was a big reason for the football team’s success during the fall season.
A top player and a leader in tackles was senior lineman Ben Hughes. For his regular-season performance, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Hughes was chosen as a Defensive Player of the Year in the Liberty District, as well as a first-team lineman.
Its best football season in decades ended for the Washington-Liberty Generals Saturday afternoon (Nov. 30) with a loss in the championship game of the 6D North Region tournament.
The second-seeded and previously undefeated high-school team fell to the host and top seed Madison Warhawks, 48-21, in Vienna. Also undefeated entering the game, Madison improved to 13-0 and won its fifth straight region crown.
Standout defensive lineman Brandon Green was one of multiple players for the Bishop O’Connell Knights chosen to 2024 all-league football teams.
The 6-foot-1, 240-pound Green was a first-team selection on defense in the Metro Division of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. The high-school senior tackle also was nominated for the Defensive Player of the Year.
The 6D North Region high-school football championship game has all the makings of a classic showdown, with plenty in common among the teams.
On Saturday (Nov. 30) at 1 p.m. in Vienna, the Washington-Liberty Generals will face the host Madison Warhawks in the tournament final.
With longtime Yorktown High School head football coach Bruce Hanson having retired in recent days, Josh Shapiro has moved up to No. 1 on a seniority list.
Shapiro, who has been head coach of the Washington-Liberty Generals for 18 seasons, is now the longest-tenured head coach, by far, of the same team in the 6D North Region.
What already was a standout championship football season for the Washington-Liberty Generals got better with the high-school team’s latest victory.
By defeating the No. 3 seed Langley Saxons, 20-14, Friday night (Nov. 22), the host, second seed and undefeated Generals (12-0) will play in a region-tournament championship playoff game for the first time since 1975.
His 300th-win season turned out to be the last for longtime head high-school football coach Bruce Hanson.
The head coach of the Yorktown Patriots decided in recent days to step down from the position he took over in 1985. Hanson also will retire as a phys-ed teacher at the Arlington school.
