Conroe ISD's fall sports season is officially underway after the district held its annual Media Day on Tuesday, Aug. 18, spotlighting student-athletes across football and other programs as they prepare for competition.

The event, which the district announced on X, featured athletes from schools across the system serving more than 70,000 students, including The Woodlands High School and College Park High School.

For Highlanders football fans, the countdown is short.

The Woodlands opens its 2026 season at home against Bridgeland on Friday, Aug. 28 at Woodforest Bank Stadium.

New quarterback, familiar weapons

The biggest storyline at The Woodlands is the transition at quarterback. Junior Kaden Kopelin takes over as the starter after Jack Daulton graduated and moved on to the college level. Kopelin inherits an offense that returns its top wide receivers and a starting running back, according to details shared at the team's Meet the Players event on Sunday, Aug. 16 at Weldon Willig Field.

Coach Jim Rapp named Magnus Herndon and Colton Weddel as the 2026 team captains at that event. Herndon, one of the few returning defensive starters from last season, will anchor a unit that lost most of its 2025 contributors to graduation. Weddel returns on the offensive side with an expanded role and has been placed in charge of the offense.

The Highlanders enter the fall with momentum from their State 7-on-7 Championship win in the summer of 2025, where they topped a field of elite competition out of College Station.

College Park defends district crown

Across town, College Park carries its own expectations into 2026. The Cavaliers won the UIL District 13-6A title last fall, clinching it with a 70-0 shutout of Cleveland on senior night.

College Park opens its season on Thursday, Aug. 27 at Iowa Colony, one night before the Highlanders' home debut.

What's ahead

Both programs used the open-practice format at their preseason events to showcase all levels of the program. At The Woodlands' Meet the Players, freshman, JV and varsity squads ran the same 10 plays, giving fans a look at the talent pipeline from the youngest players up.

With Media Day in the books, the next milestone is kickoff. Ten days separate Woodlands-area fans from live football.