File photo – The Hoopa Warriors open the new season at St. Bernard’s on Saturday afternoon.

By Ray Hamill — With the new high school football season set to begin this weekend, there has been a change of venue announced because of nearby wildfires and smoke conditions.

A scheduled Saturday night game between St.Bernard’s and Hoopa has been moved to the coast.

The game, originally slated for Saturday night in Hoopa, will now be played at Crusader Field at St. Bernard’s earlier in the day.

The JVs kick off at 1 p.m., with the varsity teams following at 3:30 p.m.

Last year, the two schools faced off in an exciting varsity game, which the Crusaders won 26-25.

Saturday afternoon’s showdown is one of seven local games this weekend with all nine local varsity teams playing.

The new season gets under way on Friday night with four local teams in action, three of them here on the North Coast.

Defending Little 4 champion McKinleyville opens at home against Kelseyville (7:30 p.m.), while Fortuna opens at home against University Prep (7:30 p.m.) and South Fork hosts Fort Bragg (7 p.m.).

Defending Big 4 champion Del Norte also kicks off the new season on Friday night, playing at Lower Lake at 7:30 p.m.

That game will be broadcast live on KPOD 97.9 FM and through DelNortesports.com.

The SB/Hoopa game is one of two all-local showdowns on Saturday, with Arcata also hosting Eureka at 7:30 p.m. at McKinleyville High.

Rounding out a busy weekend for local teams, the Ferndale Wildcats will play at Fall River on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.