One of this fall's biggest games will also be the first.

With the Moorpark College and Ventura College football teams in separate divisions for the first time since 1998, the 43rd Citrus Cup game will be the season opener for both schools on Sept. 4.

It will also be the first Citrus Cup game at the VC Sportsplex.

The two schools played each other in the final game of the regular season Nov. 14. Ventura won 41-28 to win retain the Citrus Cup for the first time in 24 years.

With Ventura in the Northern Conference and Moorpark in the new Western Conference, both schools will also play their other local rivals in the first three weeks of the season.
Moorpark hosts Los Angeles Pierce Sept. 11 and Ventura visits Santa Barbara City Sept. 18.

What could be the toughest schedule in school history also includes non-conference games with Fullerton Sept. 11, Chaffey Sept. 25 and at Pasadena City Oct. 2 before a conference slate that sees the Pirates at Cerritos Oct. 16, at Bakersfield Oct. 23, Hancock Oct. 30, at Canyons Nov. 6 and El Camino Nov. 13.

Moorpark has former WSC rivals Hancock Sept. 18, Santa Barbara Sept. 25 and at Compton Oct. 2 in non-conference play and at Antelope Valley Oct. 16, Long Beach City Oct. 23, at Chaffey Oct. 30, Citrus Nov. 6 and at Los Angeles Harbor Nov. 13.