By Brandon HENSLEY

For the past four seasons, the the CVHS Falcons’ varsity football team kicked off its season by playing Verdugo Hills, either at VHHS or the Falcons’ home field at Glendale High. That will change this year when CV gets on a plane and flies across the country to commence the 2017 high school football season on Aug. 25.

With a ton of fundraising, thanks to team booster club president Mary Baldwin, treasurer Steve Norkus, varsity coordinator Heather Dinger and head coach Paul Schilling, the team will play at the ESPN Wide World Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida facing off against Barron Collier High from Naples. The team will be there for five days and four nights and visit several of the Disney theme parks in Orlando.

“The trip came about because I always wanted to do something like this. I attended two of the CV basketball teams’ trips to Hawaii in 1992 and 1995,” Schilling said. “They were a blast and I thought it would be a cool thing to do with the football team.”

Schilling said KSA (Kaylee Scholarship Assoc.) Events, which calls itself the premier host for high school sporting events, contacted CV after the end of last season and Schilling knew he wanted to make sure to take advantage of the opportunity.

“I think we will all think it is worth it once we are there,” he said. “Our opponent is a really good team so it will be a challenge for us opponent-wise and weather-wise.”

The Falcons, who won the Pacific League last season and went 9-1 overall, will not face Verdugo Hills once they come back to Southern California, but they will face the other two non-league opponents with which they’ve become familiar. They host Golden Valley, the only team to beat them in the regular season in 2016, on Sept. 8, and then go to La Cañada High School the next week for a date with the Spartans.

The last three weeks of the season have CV playing at home, Glendale High’s Moyse Field, against Burbank High, Glendale and Arcadia. Since winning a CIF championship in 2014, the Falcons have bowed out in the first round of the playoffs each of the past two seasons.

2017 CVHS Falcon Football Schedule

Aug. 25 vs. Barron (FL)
Sept. 8 vs. Golden Valley
Sept. 15 @ La Cañada
Sept. 22 @ Hoover
Sept. 29 vs. Muir
Oct.  6 @ Pasadena
Oct. 13 @ Burroughs
Oct. 20 vs. Burbank
Oct. 27 vs. Glendale
Nov. 2 vs. Arcadia

  Brandon Hensley