Friendship Collegiate Academy Football 2026 Preview, Players and Schedule | Top 25 Public HSFB
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2026 Teams to Know Season Preview: Friendship Collegiate Academy (DC)
Friendship Collegiate brings back eight offensive starters and two nationally recruited playmakers after finishing two points short of the DCSAA Class AA title game.
Top 25 Public HSFB8/28/20265 min read
Friendship Collegiate did not need a long offseason explanation for how close it was in 2025. The Knights finished 9-3, reached the DCSAA Class AA semifinals and saw the season end in a 14-12 loss to Eastern. One possession kept them out of the championship game.
That result matters because so much of the offense is back. Mike Hunter returns eight starters on that side of the ball, including Appalachian State commit Kemontae Chaplin and one of the nation's fastest-rising 2028 athletes in Christopha Alston. Friendship has enough continuity to begin 2026 with championship expectations instead of spending September trying to find an identity.
Team Snapshot
Team: Friendship Collegiate Academy Knights
Location: Washington, District of Columbia
Head Coach: Mike Hunter
2025 Record: 9-3
2025 Finish: DCSAA Class AA semifinalist
Returning Starters: 8 offense
The Offense Has Experience and Real Matchup Problems
Eight returning starters should change the way Friendship opens the season. Protection calls, route adjustments and the small details that usually slow an offense in August should already be familiar. That gives the Knights a chance to play fast from the first trip to New York and gives Hunter room to build beyond the base offense instead of reteaching it.
Chaplin is the established senior in the group. At roughly 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he can affect a game from the edge or at linebacker and gives Friendship a player opposing offenses have to locate before every snap. Alston creates a different problem. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound 2028 athlete can stretch the field at receiver and use the same length in the secondary. Penn State became the latest major program to offer him in August, joining a recruitment that already included Maryland, Minnesota, Rutgers, Syracuse and Virginia Tech.
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Jamall Price Jr. and Jayquan Springs matter because a veteran offense cannot become a two-player operation. They are part of the returning group responsible for making ordinary downs productive while Chaplin and Alston attract the attention. If Friendship gets dependable work from that supporting cast, defenses will have a hard time choosing where to spend the extra body.
The Roster Changed, but the Standard Did Not
Deyon Smith transferred to Roosevelt and is no longer part of Friendship's 2026 roster. That change does not erase the experience that remains. The Knights still have the offensive core and high-end athletes needed to contend in Class AA.
The real lesson from the Eastern loss is that talent has to become clean football when the margin disappears. Friendship needs to finish red-zone possessions, avoid the empty series that invite an opponent back into the game and make its veteran offense dependable when everyone in the stadium knows one drive may decide the season.
Players to Know
Kemontae Chaplin, EDGE/LB
Chaplin committed to Appalachian State in June and enters his senior season as the most established recruit in Friendship's front seven. His length lets him pressure from the edge, but his value is broader than one pass-rush role. He can run, close space and give the Knights a physical answer against teams that try to control the game on the ground.
Christopha Alston, WR/FS
Alston is a four-star 2028 athlete with the frame and movement skills to influence both sides of the ball. His offer list now includes Penn State, Maryland, Minnesota, Rutgers, Syracuse and Virginia Tech. For Friendship, the immediate value is his ability to create a favorable matchup outside and cover ground in the secondary without leaving the field.
Jamall Price Jr.
Price is one of the returning players Hunter highlighted around the headline recruits. His role is important because Friendship's ceiling depends on how complete the offense becomes. Productive snaps from Price keep opponents from tilting the entire plan toward Chaplin and Alston.
Jayquan Springs
Springs gives the Knights another experienced piece within an offense bringing back eight starters. He does not need to carry the unit alone. He needs to help make its timing, spacing and weekly execution as reliable as the returning count suggests it should be.
Complete 2026 Schedule
Aug. 28: at Eagle Academy II (NY)
Sept. 4: Archbishop Carroll
Sept. 11: Simon Gratz (PA)
Sept. 19: at St. Georges Tech (DE)
Sept. 25: at Roanoke Catholic (VA)
Oct. 2: at Loudoun Sports Academy (VA)
Oct. 9: at Mt. Zion Prep Academy (MD)
Oct. 16: KIPP College Prep
Oct. 30: Riverdale Baptist (MD)
Nov. 7: at Connexions Leadership Academy (MD)
Biggest Question
Can Friendship turn its returning experience into the two or three clean possessions that decide a championship game?
The Knights already proved they can reach the final four. The next step is not finding more highlight ability. It is making sure the protection, ball security and red-zone execution hold when the game becomes tight and every wasted down is expensive.
Chaplin and Alston can create the explosive plays. The eight returning starters have to make the rest of the offense trustworthy enough that Friendship never has to live on explosives alone.
Bottom Line
Friendship Collegiate has a championship roster. The Knights return the experience that usually makes an offense better early, and they have two recruits capable of changing a matchup on either side of the ball.
I see a team good enough to reach the DCSAA Class AA final. Whether Friendship wins it will come down to how much last year's two-point semifinal loss improved the details around all that talent.
MISTER F00TBALL's National High School Football Composite Rankings, partnered with and powered by Prep Gridiron Logistics, the only rankings to include every national poll and every team receiving a Top 25 vote.
Regular season schedule is extremely tough, Credit their Head Coach Mike Hunter there, but I see a regular season in the 6-4 to 7-3 range.
Playoff: I do think that schedule pays off dividends. Give me them winning the DCSAA Class AA
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