Week 1 gave us some early answers. Week 2 should tell us whether those answers hold up against better competition. Several games this week should give us a clearer picture of the county’s contenders, while others offer teams a chance to establish themselves after uneven or inconclusive opening performances.
The 2026 NFL season kicks off tonight with a Montgomery County connection, as Germantown native Brian Fleury makes his regular-season debut as the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator in a Super Bowl rematch against the New England Patriots.
For a little while, there was a question of whether Paint Branch might finally be ready to give Quince Orchard a game. That question was answered rather emphatically Friday night.
Montgomery County native and former Gaithersburg High School basketball standout Jordan Hawkins is headed to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of a trade reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Some of Walt Whitman High School’s most accomplished football alumni returned ahead of the Vikings’ Week 1 matchup against the Kennedy Cavaliers, offering encouragement and sharing their experience as the program begins a new era under head coach Patrick Galloway. Whitman went on to win the season opener, 46-0.
Iverson Howard, a 2025 graduate of Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, opened his sophomore season at the University of Maryland with the best performance of his college career.
Below you’ll see the most recent updates or final scores that we have of the 2026 week 1 MCPS football games. The scores will be updated as we receive them. If a score isn’t listed, it’s because we haven’t yet received a report from the game that we can confirm. An ‘F’ signifies the score is confirmed as being final:
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.
Crazy now to think that, this time last year, there was a legitimate argument to be made that Paint Branch might finally catch Quince Orchard at the right moment. The Panthers had reason to believe the Cougars’ standard had slipped just enough. Then reality hit as Quince Orchard defeated Paint Branch 42-7.
Week 1 is supposed to be about optimism. Everyone is undefeated, every roster has a reason to believe it is better than the one that finished last season, and every coach has spent an offseason explaining why the work his players put in will matter when the lights come on. Then the games begin.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland has named Sharief Hashim its new Vice President for Athletics and Recreation, effective October 5.