By Penny Weichel/webmaster

There's a piece in the Aug. 15 edition of the Erie Times News in which Tom Reisenweber discusses the future of co-ops in high school football in District 10.

I did not realize that the Oil City/Cranberry and Franklin/Rocky Grove co-ops were two of the only five in District 10. The others are Sharpsville/West Middlesex, Mercer/Commodore Perry and Mercyhurst Prep/Erie First Christian. I thought there would be more among the 37 programs in D-10.

"All five co-ops have had varying success over the years," Reisenweber writes, pointing out Oil City/Cranberry as three of the five that "have probably been been the most successful." (Ha, ha, ya think?)

"Oil City has won District 10 championships with star players from Cranberry," Reisenweber writes, "while Sharpsville has maintained its impressive program with an influx of Big Reds.

"Mercyhurst Prep has been the closest Erie County team to ending the Mercer County dominance in the District 10 playoffs with the help of Erie First athletes."

Plus, Reisenweber notes, the Lakers have produced Jesse Luketa, the Canadian who plays for the Arizona Cardinals after starring at linebacker for Penn State.

The co-ops have boosted both Oil City and Franklin from 3A to 4A. The Grove's 54 students bumps Franklin's enrollment to 298, while Oil City goes from 241 to 324 with the addition of Cranberry's 83 students. 

The Oilers have a horde of Berries on this year's roster. Just as a for instance, the top three quarterbacks on the depth chart are all from Cranberry. 

And over recent years -- and during their glory years --  the Oilers have counted on Cam Russell, J.T. Stahlman, Henry Milford and Kevin Pearsall, just to name a few Berries. (And, it looks like more quality athletes are on the way.)

Prominent players from Rocky Grove on this year's Franklin team include Connor Ritchey, one of the top kickers in District 10 (no matter what the ETN's lists say), along with Kaiden Kiselka and Julian Johnson.

Also, the Knights featured two Grovers, running back Zak Lynn and quarterback Porter Remold, in 2015, when they last made the playoffs. Both are No. 2 on Franklin's all-time lists, Lynn with 2,108 career yards rushing and Rembold with 4,009 passing.

I was surprised that more schools aren't involved in co-ops  but I can picture it becoming "a thing."

Warren County will have a different look this season.

Warren -- the Dragons, that is -- did have a co-op with Youngsville, but with the closing of both Youngsville and Sheffield high schools, Youngsville now has a co-op with Eisenhower while Warren has teamed up with Sheffield.

And, nearly 20 years ago, Conneaut Lake, Conneaut Valley and Linesville in Crawford County all closed to form Conneaut Area (CASH). 

Reisenweber believes the trend will continue.

"With small schools struggling to put together rosters with a safe amount of players, there could be more combinations and co-op programs in the future," he wrote.

Interestingly, Kennedy Catholic, which some years does have a team and some years doesn't, has decided to play eight-man football in Ohio this season, according to Reisenweber.

So, stay tuned.