With the perennial success the teams have enjoyed for decades, the Concorde District is often referenced as the mighty SEC of high school football in Northern Virginia.
SEC stands for the Southeastern Conference, which arguably is the best league in college football.
Of the six current teams in the Concorde District, four have won Virginia High School League state football titles at the highest enrollment classifications: the Chantilly Chargers, Centreville Wildcats, Oakton Cougars and Westfield Bulldogs. Westfield has won five state championships, Centreville two and Chantilly and Oakton one each.
Another Concorde team, the Madison Warhawks, has finished second in the state three times, including losing by a point in this year’s Dec. 14 title game.
The Robinson Rams, now a member of the Patriot district, are a former Concorde team that won two state titles.
It’s a challenge to track the long-term records of other teams statewide, but the Concorde District certainly ranks high in overall achievement.
In addition to the Concorde’s success in state tournaments, teams from that league have won 14 straight northern-region championships of some kind, and multiple others before that streak began.
“There are never any easy wins in the Concorde District, and you know that going in,” Brian Slay said when he was chosen as Oakton’s new head coach prior to the 2024 season. “Your teams have to play to that level.”
This season, the Concorde teams had a combined 33-27 regular-season record, including a cumulative 18-12 record against non-district opponents.
That’s something of middling year for the league. Yet one of its teams, Madison, still won a region title and reached the state final.
Westfield (9-3) also was strong this season, losing to Madison twice in close games, the last a region semifinal.
Looking ahead, five-time defending region champion Madison likely will remain strong next season, Westfield improved in 2024, Oakton was much better under a new head coach, and Centreville and Chantilly each bounced back a bit this past season.
So it appears the SEC of Northern Virginia football will continue.
