Liberty High School is drawing attention heading into its first season at the 5A level.

The Falcons received 16 points in the OSAA's first preseason 5A football coaches poll, released Monday, Aug. 24, placing them among the "others receiving significant votes" alongside Ridgeview (21 points), Churchill (16) and Crater (14). Liberty is the only Hillsboro-area team to earn recognition in the poll. Glencoe and Century did not receive votes.

The poll is for discussion only and carries no weight in the OSAA's RPI and Colley ratings used to determine playoff seedings. Still, the nod signals that coaches around the state see Liberty as a team worth watching after the Falcons went 5-5 in 2025 and earned a 6A playoff berth before falling 35-31 to Clackamas.

Liberty drops from 6A to 5A this fall and joins Special District-3 with Aloha, Forest Grove, Hillsboro, Canby and Wilsonville. Two of those district rivals, Wilsonville and Canby, landed in the poll's top 10 at No. 3 (131 points) and No. 10 (24 points), respectively.

Silverton tops the 5A preseason rankings with 10 first-place votes and 154 points after winning the 2025 state championship with a 24-14 victory over Summit at Hillsboro Stadium on Nov. 28, 2025. Summit sits second (144 points), followed by Wilsonville, Mountain View and Thurston.

The Falcons will field a young roster after graduating 22 seniors. Junior quarterback Jaxson James returns as the starter after earning second-team all-league honors in the Pacific Conference as a sophomore. His father, Matt James, played quarterback at Hillsboro High School in the late 1980s and at Portland State University and now coaches receivers at Liberty.

"I think this is a group that can make it to the state championship … We have such a good culture," James told the Hillsboro News-Times on Aug. 20. "All the guys on our teams like each other, and you could say we're all best friends with each other."

James also told the News-Times that the team graduated about 20 seniors and that competing at the 5A level gives them "a little bit of an easier challenge to grow and be better players."

The full 5A preseason top 10, according to the Beaverton Valley Times: Silverton, Summit, Wilsonville, Mountain View, Thurston, West Albany, Dallas, Sandy, Lebanon and Canby.

Liberty's district schedule includes matchups against No. 3 Wilsonville and No. 10 Canby.