High School Football Returns To Gaithersburg: See The Schedule

GAITHERSBURG, MD —Montgomery County residents can expect a regular football season this year. It's been a two-year wait for the return of Friday night fall football in many American communities, where gathering at the local high school stadium has become a long-standing early school year tradition.

In Montgomery County, the high school football season was put on hold last year and then abridged into a three-game season in the spring. But in 2021, all the big rivalries this time of year are back.

Gaithersburg, Quince Orchard and Watkins Hill High School have all played their first games of the season — Quince Orchard won its first game while Gaithersburg High School and Watkins Hill High School lost their first.

Quince Orchard, Northwest, Sherwood, and Damascus High School are all rivals, as are Watkins Mill, Clarksburg and Gaithersburg High School the Montgomery County Public Schools athletics office said. Gaithersburg and Richard Montgomery High School are rivals, too.

In some places, such as Illinois, high school football is making a return to the fall after a 2020 season that was largely put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of taking the field last fall, many schools held football season in the spring — which, on school sports calendars, can run anywhere from February through June.

In Illinois, that meant abbreviated six-game schedules and no playoffs. It wasn't exactly the time of year when prep sports enthusiasts are accustomed to getting behind their alma mater on the gridiron.

This year, the season has already begun in some states.

Fall football season at the high school level has already kicked off in Alaska and Utah, according to MaxPreps.com, a site covering high school athletics nationwide. Sixteen more states will begin contests on the weekend of Aug. 20-21, with others set to begin either the final weekend of August or in early September.

Gaithersburg High School

9/3

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Wootton (Rockville, MD)
• Location: Wootton High School
• (L) 13 - 0

9/10

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Seneca Valley (Germantown, MD)
• Location: Gaithersburg High School

9/17

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Northwest (Germantown, MD)
• Location: Northwest High School

9/24

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Bethesda-Chevy Chase (Bethesda, MD)
• Location: Gaithersburg High School

10/1

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Urbana (Ijamsville, MD)
• Location: Gaithersburg High School

10/8

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Watkins Mill (Gaithersburg, MD)
• Location: Watkins Mill High School

10/15

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Quince Orchard (Gaithersburg, MD)
• Location: Gaithersburg High School

10/22

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Clarksburg (Clarksburg, MD)
• Location: Clarksburg High School

10/29

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Churchill (Potomac, MD)
• Location: Gaithersburg High School

Quince Orchard

9/3

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Whitman (Bethesda, MD)
• Location: Quince Orchard High School
• (W) 58 - 0

9/10

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Paint Branch (Burtonsville, MD)
• Location: Quince Orchard High School

9/17

• 7 p.m. vs. Walter Johnson (Bethesda, MD)
• Location: Walter Johnson High School

9/24

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Damascus (Damascus, MD)
• Location: Damascus High School

10/1

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Seneca Valley (Germantown, MD)
• Location: Quince Orchard High School

10/8

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Richard Montgomery (Rockville, MD)
• Location: Quince Orchard High School

10/15

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Gaithersburg (Gaithersburg, MD)
• Location: Gaithersburg High School

10/22

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Northwest (Germantown, MD)
• Location: Northwest High School

10/29

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Clarksburg (Clarksburg, MD) *
• Location: Quince Orchard High School

Watkins Mill

9/3

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Springbrook (Silver Spring, MD)
• Location: Watkins Mill High School
• (L) 32 - 0

9/10

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Rockville (Rockville, MD)
• Location: Rockville High School

9/17

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Poolesville (Poolesville, MD)
• Location: Poolesville High School

9/24

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Blake (Silver Spring, MD)
• Location: Watkins Mill High School

10/1

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Damascus (Damascus, MD)
• Location: Damascus High School

10/8

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Gaithersburg (Gaithersburg, MD)
• Location: Watkins Mill High School

10/16

• 1 p.m. vs. Kennedy (Silver Spring, MD)
• Location: Kennedy High School

10/22

• 6:30 vs. Magruder (Rockville, MD)
• Location: Watkins Mill High School

10/29

• 6:30 p.m. vs. Paint Branch (Burtonsville, MD)
• Location: Paint Branch High School