Cardinal Stritch will not field an 11-man football team this fall.
According to Stritch athletics director Dick Cromwell, the Catholic high school in Oregon does not have the number of players necessary to participate in the 11-man game this season.
Also, the Stritch program is currently without a head coach. Gene Rucker, the Cardinals’ head coach for the past two seasons, said he is no longer with the team.
“I think, just like many smaller schools in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, our high school numbers have been dropping for a number of years,” Cromwell said. “Losing 10 seniors this year, compounded by a smaller freshman class, led the board and administration to determine that it could not safely field a strong 11-man team.”
Cromwell said the school is exploring an 8-man schedule for the 2022 season. Stritch is a member of the Toledo Area Athletic Conference, a league that is in talks to merge with Michigan’s Tri-County Conference.
Fellow TAAC member Toledo Christian, as well as Holgate and Stryker from the Buckeye Border Conference and Danbury and Sandusky St. Mary from the Sandusky Bay Conference, field 8-man teams as part of the Northern 8 Football Conference. Britton Deerfield and Morenci of the Tri-County Conference also play 8-man football.
Northern 8 commissioner Joel Miller declined comment when asked about potential Cardinal Stritch participation in the league.
“We are reviewing the possibility of playing a restricted 8-man schedule, if we can obtain the right number of student-athletes to compete,” Cromwell said.
Stritch’s decision leaves the TAAC football league with just five teams this fall: all-sport TAAC members Northwood and Ottawa Hills, as well as football-only members Edon, Hilltop, and Montpelier from the BBC.
Regardless of whether an 8-man team can be fielded, Stritch administrators have confirmed they will try to bring 11-man football back for the 2023-24 school year.
Stritch went 5-4 in 2021, qualifying for the Division VI playoffs. Three of its games were canceled.
“Stritch Academy teams are strong, and it is hoped they will provide the necessary numbers to once again field a competitive team,” Cromwell said.
First Published July 1, 2022, 11:31 p.m.
