There isn’t much mystery at the top. Quince Orchard has spent the better part of the last several years making preseason arguments feel unnecessary. The real question in Montgomery County is who can make the Cougars uncomfortable and, eventually, who can actually beat them.
That makes Friday’s opener against Paint Branch more than an intriguing first-week matchup. It is the first chance for one of the county’s best teams to test itself against the standard. Behind QO, though, the picture gets considerably more interesting.
- Quince Orchard
The Cougars enter 2026 as back-to-back 4A champions, riding a Maryland-high 27-game winning streak and carrying the kind of regular-season dominance that has made them the unquestioned No. 1. They haven’t lost a regular-season game in almost six years. So yes, they’re No. 1. No debate.
At this point, Quince Orchard stays in this spot until somebody takes it from them. Paint Branch gets the first opportunity Friday, but the schedule doesn’t exactly let the Cougars coast. Stone Bridge remains the most obvious non-county threat, and games against Churchill, Sherwood and Northwest will give the rest of Montgomery County its chances. The standard is pretty simple. If you want to be No. 1, beat the team that’s been sitting there.
- Sherwood
The Warriors are coming off a state championship game appearance and have enough returning talent to make another run to Navy Stadium feel like a reasonable expectation rather than wishful thinking.
They also gave Quince Orchard a real scare last year, which matters when evaluating a team that wants to close the final gap between contender and champion. Sherwood doesn’t need to reinvent itself. It needs to build on what it did a year ago, stay healthy and finish the job when the biggest games arrive. The first test comes against Magruder. After that, the target gets considerably larger.
- Churchill
Churchill has one of the most important pieces a high-level high school football team can have: a veteran quarterback in Hunter Humphries.
The Bulldogs also have a coaching staff that has turned the program into a consistent contender. The challenge is replacing a significant amount of last year’s offensive production, particularly in the running game.
That makes this an interesting season for Churchill. The expectations haven’t changed, but the formula might have. We’ll get an early look at how the Bulldogs are adjusting Friday when they travel to face Bethesda-Chevy Chase.
- Paint Branch
Paint Branch has spent enough time knocking around the better teams in the county that calling the Panthers a dark horse is starting to feel outdated. Now comes the harder part.
With Alijah Bah returning, Paint Branch has one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in Montgomery County and, quite possibly, the best offensive player on the county’s side of the ball. But talent alone hasn’t been enough to get past Quince Orchard or make the Panthers a true championship favorite.
They’ll get an immediate opportunity to change that narrative Friday night at QO. If Paint Branch wants to make the jump from a team capable of hanging with the best to a team capable of beating them, this is exactly the kind of game it needs.
- Blake
Blake has an opportunity to establish itself as something more than a team that can occasionally make noise.
Quarterback Wilt Cameron gives the Bengals a centerpiece to build around, and the season begins with a particularly useful test against Northwest. Beat the Jaguars for the second straight year and Blake will have an early result to point toward when the conversation turns to the county’s contenders.
There’s a difference between being competitive and becoming a team people have to account for. Blake gets a chance to show which one it is.
- Northwest
Last year’s 6-5 record wasn’t the standard Northwest has established for itself, and the Jaguars have a chance to start correcting that immediately.
They’ll open against Blake, the same team that finished ahead of them in this ranking, making Friday’s game a useful early measuring stick. Northwest may not be the Jaguars of some of the program’s best years, but they also don’t look like the team that stumbled through an inconsistent 2025 season.
A bounce-back season is very much in play. The Jaguars had a rough start last year before finishing stronger, and this year’s opening stretch should tell us pretty quickly whether that late-season improvement carries over.
- Seneca Valley
There is a little more buzz around Germantown this year, and Seneca Valley has the opportunity to turn that into something tangible.
The first step comes against Clarksburg. Win that one, and suddenly the rest of the schedule looks a little more interesting. The Eagles have made enough moves in the offseason to generate legitimate optimism, but optimism gets replaced by evidence pretty quickly once the games begin. Week 1 should tell us plenty.
- Blair
Montgomery Blair enters the season with senior quarterback Malachi Rice leading the way, and that makes the Blazers an interesting team to watch as the season develops.
The opener against Wheaton won’t be a free pass. Blair will have to establish itself early, and Rice will be central to that effort. There is enough here to believe the Blazers can make a climb, but they’ll have to earn it one Friday night at a time.
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase
The Barons get one of the county’s toughest possible opening assignments when Churchill comes to town.
That’s a difficult way to start, but it also gives B-CC an immediate opportunity to make its presence felt. A win would instantly change the tone around the program. A loss wouldn’t say much by itself, given the opponent. Either way, we’ll know more about the Barons by the end of Friday night.
- Damascus
Damascus gets a chance to move up quickly with Richard Montgomery coming to town. The Swarmin’ Hornets have plenty of history behind the program, but rankings are about what happens now. A strong opening performance would give Damascus something to build on and put the Hornets in position to climb this list as the season progresses.
At No. 10, they’re not being written off. They’re being given a chance to prove they belong higher. The best part of preseason rankings is that they don’t last very long. Quince Orchard may have earned the benefit of the doubt at the top, but everybody else gets to start making an argument tonight.
