Charles Finney athletic director and head football coach Joe Marchand won’t have to worry about scheduling difficulties anymore.
Starting this season the Falcons are a member of the Livingston County League, for football only.
Finney is a small private Christian school located in Penfield.
“The last two years we’ve had tough times scheduling,” Marchand said. “The 2008 season we only played five games. We played Niagara Catholic (Section 6) twice, Nichols (Section 6) twice, and Bishop Walsh (Section 6) once. It just wasn’t good.
“Last year we had set the schedule and Bishop Walsh canceled the football program, so we were scrambling for a game. It was here we go again, we only had five games. We picked up Salamanca (Section 6), which was a powerhouse Class C team which was well above our head. We went down there and gave them a good game.
Marchand continued, “I said this isn’t good. I could see the handwriting on the wall. All that was left was Niagara Catholic and Nichols was all that was left for us to play.
“Actually, Livingston County had called me up about playing some of their teams, and they had an odd number of teams. I talked with Gene Mastin of Hornell on the phone and he said to put an application in to be in our league, it might work out.
“They were gracious enough to let us in their league when we put our application in. We’re real excited about it.
“Last year we only had one home game, we didn’t have a homecoming game. It was terrible. This year we get two home games out of six games. We’ve got a homecoming game, so it’s a lot more advantageous to the program.”
The Falcons also now have a league championship to compete for.
“Now our kids can play for a league title, getting all-league, second-team all-league,” Marchand said. “Our kids could never make all-league, the only thing they could make was all-Greater Rochester, and that’s tough to do.
“This will give our kids some more recognition. It will be pretty good.”
Two sophomores will be fighting for the starting job.
Aaron Curtis is home-schooled, and Chris Davidson, who has been on the team for three years, are battling for QB position.
“I think the competition is going to raise the level of play,” Marchand said. “Who ever loses out at quarterback, there’s another spot for him as a starter probably at tight end. They will be able to get the job done.
