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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria City High School football went 0-10 in 2023, losing every game and giving up 390 points. It won three in 2024. Last fall the Titans won six and reached the Class 6 playoffs.
They open the 2026 season at 7 p.m. Friday against Lake Braddock at Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium — the same opponent that opened last season, in a game decided by forfeit rather than on the field.
The defense tells the same story. The Titans allowed 390 points in the winless season and 234 the following year, finishing eighth in District 4 in 2023 and sixth in 2024.
Rodney Hughey, who coached that turnaround, was named the school's fall coach of the year in December. In announcing the award, the athletics department credited him with early morning practices and with helping launch a middle school football program to build a developmental pipeline into the high school.
The Titans started last season 5-0, atop Virginia High School League Division 6A District 4, in what the school called one of the program's best starts in more than 30 years. The finish was harder: five losses in the last six games, then an 18-13 defeat at Fairfax in the playoffs.
The wins were lopsided and the losses were close. Alexandria City beat Lewis 71-0 on the night the school marked the 25th anniversary of "Remember the Titans," and won 42-6 over Potomac and 42-8 at Crossland. Four defeats came by a touchdown or less: 21-20 to West Potomac, 14-7 at Fairfax, 24-17 at South County and the playoff loss. The one blowout was 35-0 at home to West Springfield.
Every opponent this fall is a rematch. Hughey's team faces the same 10 schools it played in 2025, with home and away flipped almost across the board.
The varsity schedule
- Aug. 28 — Lake Braddock, home
- Sept. 3 — at Potomac Senior
- Sept. 10 — Crossland (Md.), home
- Sept. 18 — at Lewis
- Sept. 25 — Woodson, home (homecoming)
- Oct. 2 — bye
- Oct. 9 — at West Potomac
- Oct. 16 — Fairfax, home
- Oct. 23 — at Robinson
- Oct. 30 — at West Springfield
- Nov. 6 — South County, home (senior night)
All kickoffs are 7 p.m. Most games are Fridays; Potomac and Crossland are Thursdays. Crossland, from Prince George's County, Maryland, is the only opponent from outside Virginia.
Fairfax gets a home date this year after beating the Titans twice in 2025, in the regular season and the playoffs. So does South County, on senior night.
The Titans have already been on the field this month in preseason play that does not count toward the record, tying Langley 14-14 at home Aug. 13 and visiting Meridian on Aug. 21.
Alexandria City has won three state championships, in 1971, 1984 and 1987, five region titles and 12 district titles, most recently in 2020.
Junior varsity and freshman teams both open Thursday at Lake Braddock, at 7 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
