Crescenta Valley football bound for friendly skies
Instead of boarding a bus to head a few miles to meet rival Verdugo Hills High, the Crescenta Valley football team will be hopping on an airplane for a cross-country flight for its season-opening contest.
Crescenta Valley has played Verdugo Hills the past four seasons, but Crescenta Valley wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to experience a new adventure.
Now, the Falcons will travel to Orlando to meet Barron Collier of Naples, Fla. before spending a few days visiting Walt Disney World, Epcot Center and other nearby attractions.
Crescenta Valley will begin its season with a zero week contest at 6 p.m. PDT Thursday, Aug. 24 against Barron Collier at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
“It will be pretty strange not playing Verdugo Hills, but we see this as an exciting opportunity to play a game in the state of Florida and see what it will be like,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Paul Schilling, whose team went 9-2, 7-0 in the Pacific League for first place last season. “We talked with our players and the parents about getting involved with playing a game down there and it’s like when a basketball team goes out of state to play in a tournament.
“We went through a company based near Orlando called KSA Events and they do a great job working with you to make sure things go smoothly and they handle all the arrangements.”
Barron Collier finished 5-6 last season.
Crescenta Valley will have a bye week before meeting Golden Valley (8-5) in a nonleague home game at 7 p.m. Sept. 8 at Glendale High’s Moyse Field. Golden Valley handed Crescenta Valley a 21-7 defeat last season, its lone regular season loss. The Grizzlies advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division VII semifinals last season.
“You know it’s always going to be a physical game and they’ve beaten us the last two years,” Schilling said. “They’ve definitely come a long ways.”
Crescenta Valley will wrap up the nonleague portion of its schedule against host La Cañada at 7 p.m. Sept. 15. The game is dubbed the “Gordy Warnock Memorial Game” in honor of the late former Crescenta Valley coach.
“It’s always an emotional game and it’s a scary game for us because they always play physical,” said Schilling, whose team registered a 51-12 win in last season’s meeting. “[La Cañada first-year coach Jason Sarceda] coached a lot of our players when they were playing youth football.”
Crescenta Valley, which reached the Division VI playoffs last season, will begin defense of its league championship on Sept. 22 against Hoover.
“I think our league will be interesting,” Schilling said. “It will be good to be playing at home against Burbank, Muir and Arcadia.
“A lot of the other teams are building and some have new coaches. So, there are going to be a lot of challenges in those games.”
Crescenta Valley will take on Hoover (4-6) at 7 p.m. Sept. 22. Both teams play their home games at Moyse, but Hoover will be the designated home team. Crescenta Valley picked up a 52-0 win last season versus Hoover.
The Falcons will compete against Muir (6-5) at 7 p.m. Sept. 29 at Moyse before traveling to take on Pasadena (2-8) at 7 p.m. Oct. 6. Crescenta Valley topped Muir, 33-0, and Pasadena, 49-13, in 2016.
Crescenta Valley will remain on the road against Burroughs (4-6) at 7 p.m. Oct. 13. The Falcons notched a 38-9 victory in last season’s tilt.
Crescenta Valley will finish the regular season with three straight home games, kicking it off against Burbank at 7 p.m. Oct. 20. Burbank finished 10-4 and second in league last season before advancing to the Division VIII championship game against Yorba Linda.
The Falcons face Glendale (1-9) at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 and then battle rival Arcadia (9-3) at 7 p.m. Nov. 2. Crescenta Valley posted a 52-0 win against Glendale and a 49-28 victory versus Arcadia last season.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
