SCHEDULE CHANGE … Montpelier quarterback Hayden Sharps settles in to throw a pass with a Cardinal Stritch defender closing in. Montpelier is one of four Williams County teams in search of an opponent after Stritch announced they’re canceling their 2024 season due to low numbers. (ARCHIVE PHOTO / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
OREGON – For the second time in the last three seasons, Cardinal Stritch has axed their football season due to low participation numbers, thus leaving Williams County schools scrambling to find a 10th game for their schedules.
This means four Williams County teams now have an open date on their schedules and it will not be an easy task to fill those dates considering the first football Friday is just seven weeks away.
North Central (9-20), Hilltop (9-27), Montpelier (10-4), and Edon (10-18) now all face the possibility of just a nine-game season if they’re not able to find an opponent.
North Central is scheduled to join the TAAC for football in 2025 according to TAAC commissioner Rick Kaifas.
The same scenario played out in 2022 before Stritch came back to field a team in 2023 that went 2-8 with three fellow Toledo Area Athletic Conference (TAAC) members on its schedule, but they were not eligible to compete for a TAAC championship. Stritch was slated to play a full TAAC schedule in 2024.
“It is with a very heavy heart that we made the difficult decision to put a halt on traditional varsity football at Cardinal Stritch for the 2024-2025 school year”, stated Stritch president/head of school Bill Berry in a press release.
“The athletic department and coaches have been working diligently for months to replace the 12 seniors that participated on our team last year with new and existing students that have shown interest.”
“Due to many internal and external factors, we did not have enough participation to safely field a team. We did not find it to be in the best interest of our student-athletes to have limited substitutes for rest, or in the case of injury/illness.”
According to Berry, Stritch will come back with an 8-man team for next season, adding he feels that will better reflect their school size and numbers.
Berry went on to say that Stritch has the numbers for an 8-man team this year but indicated it was too late to put together a schedule for the 2024 season.