OBSERVER File Photo Section VI’s Executive Committee approved an emergency merger request Wednesday to allow Maple Grove student-athletes to play football with Falconer/Cassadaga Valley this fall.

In the end, Maple Grove student-athletes intending to play football this fall will be joining a merged program.

But it won’t be with Chautauqua Lake, Westfield and Brocton.

On Wednesday, the Section VI Executive Committee approved Maple Grove’s emergency merger request to join the Falconer/Cassadaga Valley varsity football program for one year.

“We found a way to provide our players a place to play,” Joe Reyda, Bemus Point Central School District superintendent, said Thursday afternoon. “That’s been the goal of our board.”

Months ago, the wheels were put in motion for Maple Grove’s student-athletes to join the CL/W/B program, but the BEDS numbers of the four districts would have pushed that merger to the Class B level. That plan was not well received so the request was withdrawn and instead the Red Dragons intended to play 8-man football this fall, which they did two years ago.

“There was concern over player safety,” Reyda said. “We listened to those concerns and then went back to the drawing board. We found a solution to the problem.”

Maple Grove was then included in the Section V 8-man schedule with Frewsburg that was released earlier this summer.

“That was our initial plan. That was the plan we really wanted to move forward with,” Reyda said. “It would allow us to be Maple Grove Red Dragons. Ultimately, that’s what we want to get back to.”

But as the season grew closer, numbers dwindled for the Maple Grove program. Reyda said the numbers the district were using over the summer for player participation were four at the modified level and eight at the varsity level.

“Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the participation,” Reyda said.

Falconer already approved a request for the Maple Grove modified players to join them this fall, but the Golden Falcons have their own modified team, separate from Cassadaga Valley.

“The biggest thing our board looks at is creating opportunities for kids,” said Stephen Penhollow, Falconer superintendent, on Tuesday. “Our numbers in a shared merger with Cassadaga Valley are solid, but could certainly take on a few more kids.

“Our goal has been and will always remain creating more opportunities for kids to participate in extra-curricular activities,” Penhollow stressed.

With the varsity programs merged, the proposal required the approval of all three districts before moving to the Executive Committee.

“We were approached by Bemus Point Central School District asking if the players they had could participate in the Cassadaga Valley/Falconer merged program. It’s our understanding that they had approximately 10 players at the varsity level and it was not enough to run a program on their own,” Chuck Leichner, Cassadaga Valley superintendent, said earlier this week. “It’s a one-year stop-gap to allow those athletes from Maple Grove to have a football season.”

According to the Cassadaga Valley Board of Education agenda from its Monday meeting, the merged program will have a BEDS number of 378, which keeps it at Class C — under the Class B threshold of 397. As the host school, Falconer’s entire BEDS number of 267 is added to 30% of Cassadaga Valley’s 209 and 30% of Maple Grove’s 159.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley is coached by Dan Greco and Curt Fischer, along with longtime Cassadaga Valley coach Mark Petersen.

Greco and Fischer worked together for years at Maple Grove, leading a successful Red Dragons program in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The merged program will play all of its home games at Falconer or Cassadaga Valley, keep its current Golden Cougars nickname and uniforms, and practice in Falconer or Sinclairville. Maple Grove’s players are essentially being “absorbed” into the existing program according to Leichner.

Section V’s 8-man programs will now have an open date on their schedules, including Frewsburg. The Bears were supposed to play the Red Dragons on Dutch Hollow Road on Friday, Oct. 1.

Fall sports practices begin Monday, Aug. 23. Falconer/Cassadaga Valley opens its season in Clymer on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 1:30 p.m. against Clymer/Sherman/Panama.