BY PETE MOHR | AUGUST 11, 2010
Falcons to be featured on Channel 12’s ‘Friday Night Fever’ vs. (Vail) Cienga, then
on Cox 7-TV (Greenway)
All together now: “Hey, Hey, what-the-heck?! Football Falcons gonna get ree-spect!”
CSHS – The celestial Rodney Dangerfield must be smilin’, because the Football Falcons are going to receive media “respect,” big-time, in the first two games of their 2010 season. Opening at Falcon Stadium, Friday evening, Sept. 3, the Falcs vs. (Vail) Cienega’s Bobcats will be the game-of-the-week on Channel 12’s “Friday Night Fever,” the postgame television show hosted by local sports media favorite Bruce Cooper, who will select Falcons to appear in-studio with him.
All right, I thought you’d never ask: Where is Vail, Arizona? An Anthem-like residential development, Vail is on I-10, approximately 15 miles southeast of Tucson. Coach Nemer Hassey’s Bobcats will be out to avenge their home opening 32-33 loss to the Falcons’ “last play” heroics, a 32-yard Paul Walsh-to-Dillon Classen-to-Joree Schneider strike, followed by Bryce Redmond’s winning point-after.
On Thursday, Sept. 9, Cox 7-TV’s crew will cover the Falcons hosting Greenway in the Arizona Scholastic Association’s “Game of the Week.” The Demons, too, will be seeking revenge from their dramatic double overtime 21-28 home loss to the ‘Birds. Then sophomore Cam Larson and Classen, respectively, scored the Falcon touchdowns in the two overtimes. Tommy Murphy’s INT clinched the victory.
The 2010 schedule flip-flops from 2009, when the Falcons opened with three-in-a-row on the road. Playing their first three at home should help starting quarterback Bryce Kinsler get his feet under him before a tough road contest at Paradise Valley, Friday, Sept. 24. Falcons make their longest road trek, Oct. 1, to take on the Flagstaff Eagles.
Then it’s back to “The Rooste” for major Desert Sky Region match-ups against Apache Junction (Oct. 8) and the big, bad Saguaro Sabercats (Oct. 15’s Homecoming), the Falcs’ last home game of the regular season.
No true Falcon fan will ever forget senior and quad-captain Murphy’s leaping block of the Sabercat P.A.T. try that preserved the 21-20 Falcon victory! In the “BirdHouse,” on this 2010 Homecoming, the Falcons will still owe ‘em one. Just ask Matt Williams (CSHS ’07).
Falcons should be more than battle-tested when they hit the road for Games #8, #9 and #10 at Sunnyslope (Oct. 22), Queen Creek (Oct. 29) and McClintock (Nov. 5). Football parent John Leonard is hinting that the “Falcon Express” may be rolling to Flagstaff and Queen Creek. Watch Sonoran News for confirming details. “Take the bus and leave the driving to us!” Can’t beat it, Falcon fans.
From this Aug. 11 publication, it’s “T-minus-23” before the Cienega Bobcats roll in. “Crow” has to ponder the stage-fright factor before making his first 2010 prediction; but congratulations to Head Coach Chad DeGrenier and his Falcons for their long-deserved – and awaited – media recognition.