The Pascack Valley varsity football schedule looks different compared to last year.

This year, the PV football schedule includes mostly Saturday afternoon home games rather than the typical Friday night games from previous years. This season, all but one of of PV’s home games are on a Saturday afternoon.

“It was a combination of many things,” said PV Principal Tom DeMaio on why the most of the games were moved to Saturday.

PV played Nutley on Sept. 23, a Saturday afternoon, because of the religious holiday of Rosh Hashana on the Thursday before the game. The game against Ridgefield Park will be played on Saturday, Oct. 21, since the Executive Student Council will be hosting its annual homecoming celebration that day.

According to PV athletic director Tom Gattoni, this season’s game against Old Tappan, PV’s biggest rival, was moved due to poor fan behavior during the previous two years.

“The behavior of students in attendance has been unacceptable,” Gattoni said. “There was a near riot at last year’s night game at Old Tappan. We tried to avoid this from happening here at PV this year.”

According to senior Jackie Dehn, a sports liaison on this year’s PV Executive Council, the situation escalated when fans from both sides went to the parking lot after the game. A rear-view mirror on a car was ripped off, but there were no physical altercations among fans.

“Some students got out of hand, but the teachers controlled the situation well,” Dehn said.

Although no one was injured, the behavior exhibited after the game was enough for the administration to move this year’s game to a Saturday.

Games on a Saturday, rather than Friday, can also affect the players themselves and not just the fans.

PV junior lineman, Charlie Looes, who has played in both Friday night and Saturday games, was not a fan of the change.

“We are fine playing anytime against anyone,” Looes said. “But, there are safety issues.”

Looes said that it is much hotter on the field on a Saturday afternoon rather than a Friday night.

When Pascack Valley played Old Tappan on Sept. 17, the temperature reached a high of 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Looes explained that with the sun, it felt hotter than 85 degrees Fahrenheit on the field, and those conditions can lead to cramps or other injuries for even the fittest player.

However, the current schedule layout may be subject to change for next season and beyond.

DeMaio said he loves the Friday night games, but not if they put students at risk of making poor decisions. He says that some students use the Friday night matchups as an excuse to drink alcohol beforehand. Whether or not most of the home games will be on a Saturday next season is still undecided.

“We will evaluate and then decide where to go from here,” DeMaio said.