Westminster has dominated Carroll County football for nearly a decade. Now the Owls have one final season to add another championship before the league as it currently exists disappears.The Owls are 54-4 against county opponents since 2017, winning the county title with a perfect 6-0 record five times and never finishing worse than 5-1 in league play during that span.The landscape will change after this season, when Carroll County's seven programs join schools from Frederick and Washington counties in the Central Maryland Conference.A little more than 10 years ago, those same three counties competed together in the Monocacy Valley Athletic League, a mega-conference of more than 20 schools divided into three, and sometimes four, divisions.Westminster Is Still the Team to BeatCoaches are quick to point to Westminster, a 3A state semifinalist last year, as the clear favorite in 2026, which will be the final year for the Carroll County League. Next year, Carroll County schools will reunite with Frederick and Washington County programs as part of a new-look Central Maryland Conference.Westminster graduated plenty of talent from last year's 10-2 team but returns two of the county's top players in Gabe Lee and Isaiah Taylor.Century returns most of its starting lineup from a team that went 4-2 in county play last season. The Knights and Winters Mill are considered Westminster's strongest challengers.Liberty, which made a surprise state semifinal appearance after receiving a playoff forfeit victory, along with South Carroll and Manchester Valley, could also pose a threat. Francis Scott Key, the county's smallest school by enrollment, faces a more difficult rebuilding challenge.Carroll County StorylinesWestminster faces Franklin, Urbana and Damascus in non-league play. All three have been state powers in the past, and those games should provide important tests as the Owls prepare for another postseason run.The contrast has been significant. Since 2021, Westminster is 28-2 against Carroll County opponents but 9-6 in regular-season non-league games.Coaching Stability Across Carroll CountyWhile coaching changes have swept through other parts of Maryland this offseason, Carroll County has remained remarkably stable. There has not been a head coaching change in the county since Mike Crumley Jr. took over at South Carroll following the 2022 season.Players to WatchPosition – Name, School, ClassATH – Austin Denning, Winters Mill, 2027DB – Brayden Mazalewski, South Carroll, 2027DB – Amerian Warfield, Westminster, 2027DB – Jace Thomas, Westminster, 2027DL – Cameron Gernand, Century, 2027DL – Carter Weddle, Liberty, 2027LB – Gabe Lee, Westminster, 2027LB – Isaiah Taylor, Westminster, 2027LB – Davy Snyder, South Carroll, 2027LB – Jarell Baker, Winters Mill, 2027OL – Shane Kelley, Winters Mill, 2027OL – Jacob Plummer, Century, 2027OL – Aiden Wengert, Westminster, 2027QB – Jacob Etzler, Francis Scott Key, 2027QB – Bryan Peters, Liberty, 2029RB – Jake Andolina, Winters Mill, 2027RB – Luke Phillips, Winters Mill, 2027RB/DB – Casen Doan, Westminster, 2027RB/MLB – Barrett Tozer, Westminster, 2028TE – Brayden Johnson, Century, 2028WR – Will Koenig, Century, 2027Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow