MOUNT CARMEL - The i's needed to be dotted, and the t's crossed, but Thursday spelled a new era for both Lourdes and Mount Carmel football.
After the Lourdes Regional administration approved the agreement Wednesday night, the Mount Carmel Area school board on Thursday accepted a proposal to allow Lourdes to further the cooperative sports agreement between the two schools to include football and baseball.
The agreement must still be voted on by the PIAA and District 4, but for all intents and purposes, Thursday spelled at least the temporary end of football at Lourdes after more than half a century.
"We will not have a football team in August," Lourdes athletic director and former head football coach Mike Klembara confirmed by phone. "I was told to do this by the administration. We decided to go forward with this now instead of August."
Lourdes' football team struggled with fielding a full team all of last season, won just one game against Carson Long and had to forfeit a game against Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech. Now those players will have the chance to compete for playing time at Mount Carmel starting this upcoming season.
According to Mount Carmel athletic director Greg Sacavage, the decision wasn't difficult at all since the schools currently co-op in golf, cross country, wrestling, swimming and track, although the golf team plays under the Red Raiders' banner.
"Because we have an established relationship and a good existing co-op agreement, this was not a tough call. I have heard nothing detrimental from anyone in the other sports concerning the co-op we have now," Sacavage said.
The agreement includes all levels of football and baseball, from junior high through varsity, and was particularly attractive to Klembara because it gives more kids at Lourdes an opportunity to compete at the appropriate level.
"It might cost some kids the opportunity to start, but I think overall, more kids will benefit," Klembara said. "The coaches and kids work very hard, but we just don't have enough athletes to be competitive.
"This was done to help bolster the kids' opportunity to experience success."
Lourdes' baseball has not fared much better than the football team with an 0-14 record with one game remaining this spring.
Klembara had already forewarned fellow athletic directors in the All-American Football Conference, where the Red Raiders play football, that this possibility existed. Those schools will all need to fill Lourdes' spot on the schedule.
Little will change for Mount Carmel because of the agreement. With less than 50 boys enrolled now, Lourdes, even if it maintains that current enrollment level, will not push Mount Carmel beyond Class AA in football.
"It's not even close," Sacavage said. "It wasn't even a factor. We're probably closer in baseball than football."
Neither Klembara nor Sacavage expect the agreement to get hung up at the state or district level.