ATHENS - Athens High School may get to play a football season after all. After the news came out last week that Athens would have to cancel its varsity football season due to lack of participation, it was announced on Monday, Aug. 17 that the school has plans to be involved in a co-op with St. Philip High School. The Athens High School Board of Education approved the decision to join St. Philip in a co-op on Monday. The joining of the two teams to play in the 8-player division now awaits approval by the MHSAA, which is expected on Tuesday, Aug. 18. MORE:2026 High School Football Schedules
"We're thrilled. It's a great thing for both schools," said St. Philip Athletic Director Blake Shaw. "After Athens sent out an email saying they couldn't field a team, I contacted the MHSAA to see what we could do. I knew we were past the date to announce a co-op, but I asked if we could do some kind of emergency co-op situation and they said yes. The MHSAA still has to approve it, but the people I talked to said it should go through easy." With the low numbers at the first few days of preseason practice, which started Aug. 10, Athens made the decision to list all of its varsity game on the MHSAA and school website as cancelled. Athens was scheduled to start the season on the road at Litchfield on Aug. 28. To get to announce that the season might now be saved put a smile on the face of Athens Athletic Director Kathy Parlin. "Makes you feel terrible when you can't do something these kids want to do. We did not want to cancel the season," Parlin said. "This is great for the kids that came out and now they will hopefully get an opportunity to play. It's especially great for our seniors." The co-op also helps St. Philip, which only had 10 players on its roster in preseason camp. Athens is expected to add six players to that total. "We're ecstatic. We should have 16 now, which is good for 8-player football," Shaw said. "We are hoping to play one of our home games on Athens' home field as well. It's a good thing for both schools." St. Philip will be the host school and the co-op will play the original St. Philip schedule. The first game of the season is scheduled to be at Tekonsha on Aug. 28. Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter @billbroderick This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Athens may still get the chance to play football. Find out how.