Co-op high school football teams are nothing new, but for two small schools in Idaho and Montana, 2018 mark the merger of two teams from different states. According to the Spokesman-Review, Mullan High School (Idaho) and St. Regis (Montana) are forming a co-op that will play in Idaho’s smallest eight-man classification this season.
Evidently, the two tiny towns have been struggling to field teams recently, so that’s the reason for bringing the two teams that are separated by 40 miles together. The story indicates that the two schools each have a student body of around 40 students.
According to the story, Mullan didn’t field a team in 2016. Mullan was 1-6 last season, according to MaxPreps. St. Regis playing in Montana’s Six-Man classification was also 1-6 last year, forfeiting its last three games. Ironically, both teams are nicknamed the Tigers.
The story goes on to state that this isn’t the first time that two schools from Idaho and Montana have joined forces. In 2016, Clark County (Idaho) merged with Lima (Montana) to play eight-man in Idaho.
Editor’s Note: Check out Morgan Tyree’s blog Six-Eight-Eleven photo-essay blog that contains awesome photos of small town football in Montana and Wyoming, plus some other places. Click here to see his blog. You can also listen to Morgan on the High School Football America Radio Show below.
