The Quince Orchard High School football team had finished with the majority of afternoon practice but had just one more task to take care of before it was done for the day: sprints. Lots of them. Starting with 10 and descending by two until it was finally done.

“Pretend it’s the fourth quarter,” the coach, John Kelley, yelled from the sidelines.

It’s a chore the players have to do only after a bad game, and last week, against Sherwood, fit into that category in their eyes. Don’t get it wrong, the Cougars won, beating Sherwood 35-28 to remain undefeated in what was likely their biggest test until the postseason.

But they gave up 22 points in the fourth quarter, allowing Sherwood to get too close for comfort. And that, in their eyes, wasn’t good enough.

It’s not just their goal to be the best. It’s the expectation that comes from playing for a team that has won the state championship three times since 2021 and hasn’t lost in nearly two years. They are the top-ranked public school team in the state, according to MaxPreps.

“It’s bred into us when we come here,” outside linebacker Kacey Gilliam, who is committed to James Madison University, said. ”Winning is the bottom line."

It’s the culture, too, tight end Diego Rodriguez said, and how players are expected to carry themselves. They know their free time has to be dedicated to football and they can’t go hang out with their friends, wasting their time at the mall, as much as they would want.

“You can’t be out doing stuff that you know you aren’t supposed to do,” he said. “If you have the QO on your chest, you have to represent everywhere you go.”

But they also have firsthand evidence that this sacrifice is worth it, beyond just holding a trophy up at the end of the season. Quince Orchard has a long list of successful alumni who have gone on to top college programs and the NFL, including Gillman’s brother, Xavier, who plays for Penn State. Last year, the Cougars sent Iverson Howard and Aydan West to play for the University of Maryland and Michigan State, respectively.

The alumni are just as committed to that success, even after they leave. Chop Robinson, a linebacker and defensive end who plays for the Miami Dolphins, has become a mentor to Kacey Gilliam. Giliam played only linebacker when he got to Quince Orchard, he said, but Robinson helped him add defensive end as well.

“Whenever I need anything, I’ll just ask him questions,” Gilliam said. “He’s helped me develop my game.”

Every season presents challenges when the roster turns over, and this year is no different. The Cougars returned only five starters on offense and four on defense. They lost key playmakers in Howard and West.

New quarterback Will Drakeford is a transfer student whose family moved from Charles County in January. The team wasn’t sure about him, Gilliam said, after a rough spring. But, when the pads came on, the other players found Drakeford’s ability to run and throw was a boost. And he’s shown that from the first game, when he had four touchdowns in three quarters.

Drakeford has thrown for 832 yards and rushed for 398 yards with 16 total touchdowns as he’s led Quince Orchard to a 6-0 start. The Cougars expect the same from him in the final three games of the regular season — including Friday against Clarksburg — before the playoffs begin.

“As the season progressed, he’s really grown on me a lot,” Gilliam said. “I have full trust in him leading us to the state championship.”

Those words, “state champions,” are hardly ever spoken, but there are reminders everywhere. In the trophies in the display case. In the bio of their Instagram photos. In the number of pushups they do as part of their warmup every day, 14 to signify the 14 games they need to win.

All programs say it’s their goal. Quince Orchard gets it done, time and time again.

“The standard and culture they have here, they have the bar set really high and we’re trying to meet that,” Drakeford said. “Not all programs can have the bar set all the way up there. They’ve done it and proven it. It’s the standard that we’re held to.”