Familiarity fine with CV

GLENDALE — With a new coach on board, one element will still remain exactly the same for the Crescenta Valley High football team — its schedule.

Once again, Crescenta Valley will fire up its team bus to travel up and down Foothill Boulevard for its first three games of the season before diving into Pacific League competition. In fact, it will mark the fourth season in a row that the Falcons will play the same teams, their longest journey taking them to face archrival Arcadia..

Crescenta Valley Coach Paul Schilling, who inherited the team from Tony Zarrillo in the spring, said it wasn't necessary to change the schedule. The Falcons' first three games will be nonleague contests against Verdugo Hills, St. Francis and La Cañada, all located on or just off the well-traveled Foothill road.

"The biggest thing for us is that we want to be able to play games at the beginning of the season that mean something," said Schilling, whose team will kick off its season at 7 p.m. Sept. 10 with an intersectional contest against host Verdugo Hills. "These are all battles of the boulevard for us and we want to be able to keep it going."

Crescenta Valley opened last season with a convincing 48-8 win against Verdugo Hills en route to finishing 8-4 and 5-2 in the Pacific League before advancing to the CIF Southern Section Southeast Division playoffs for the second straight season.

The Falcons, who took third in league last season, will then meet rival St. Francis in "The Battle for Foothill Boulevard" at 7 p.m. Sept. 17 at Glendale High's Moyse Field. St. Francis handed Crescenta Valley a 28-21 loss last season at St. Francis.

"That's always a great game," said Schilling, who served as the defensive coordinator last season. "There's always something special when the teams get together.

"So many of the athletes have played against each other going back to youth football. These guys see each other all of the time."

The Falcons then meet visiting La Cañada at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 at Moyse Field to wrap up nonleague competition. Crescenta Valley earned a 38-35 road win in last season's meeting.

"It's kind of like the St. Francis game," Schilling said. "La Cañada almost beat us last year.

"It's three good games to get us going because you get a good mix of the different leagues and their respective styles."