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:
Washington-Liberty
Through six matches, the Washington-Liberty Generals club ice-hockey team has had ups and downs — mostly ups.
To date, the high-school squad has compiled a 4-1-1 record. Two of the wins are shutouts by 5-0 and 4-0 scores. The Generals also have a 7-2 blowout victory, have tied a match at 4, have a close 4-2 win and lost by a tight 5-4 margin.
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.
The second annual Braylon Meade Basketball Classic has been expanded to include more varsity high-school teams, both girls and boys.
This year, eight teams will participate in four non-district contests played at Washington-Liberty High School on Saturday, Dec. 14. The W-L and Yorktown High girls and boys teams are among those competing.
Arlington high schools have a much more busy week ahead in sports action, with the winter schedule getting started.
There also is one big postseason region-tournament football game on tap for the Washington-Liberty Generals when they play in the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 30.
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.
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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.
Arlington high schools have a much less busy week of sports action ahead because of the Thanksgiving holiday and the transition from the fall to the winter sports season.
But there is one big postseason region-tournament football game on tap for the Washington-Liberty Generals. There also will be a few preseason basketball and wrestling scrimmage events, and a girls ice-hockey match.
The Washington-Liberty Generals will be seeking a couple of significant achievements when they host a semifinal football game of the 6D North Region tournament Friday night (Nov. 22) in Arlington.
A win will give the undefeated and Liberty District champion Generals (11-0) a dozen victories in a high-school season for the first time. A win over the Langley Saxons (9-2) also will return Washington-Liberty to a region-tournament championship game for the first time since losing in the 1975 final to the Annandale Atoms, 24-7.