The West Hills College Coalinga football team will have to wait another week to make its return to the field. Saturday's season opener that was scheduled for 1 p.m. in Coalinga has been postponed. The contest has been rescheduled for Saturday, Oct. 9 with kickoff again at 1 p.m.

"Shasta requested a postponement due to fire issues in their area and not being able to practice because of air quality," said West Hills head coach Justin Berna. "We agreed to move the game and didnt want a cancellation like we had in 2017 because of the fires up north."

The date was originally scheduled as a bye for both squads. The Falcons are now set to play games for 10 consecutive weeks. (2021 Updated Schedule)

West Hills is on the road for its first two contests, including next Friday's (Sep. 10) season-opener at Diablo Valley College. That is followed by a game at Sierra College on Sep. 18 before the Falcons finally play at home against Chabot College on Sep. 25.

"Now we have to focus on Diablo Valley College, a ranked team who won today and will have a game under their belt," Berna said. "We beat them in 2018 and lost to them in 2019. But they will be a great challenge. I'm excited to see our young men compete for the first time together next Friday night."