They’ll join the North Coast League in 2017

By BRIAN DZENIS

bdzenis@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

For the first time since 2002, Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline will play football in a conference.

The two schools’ respective athletic directors have agreed to join the North Coast League after Friday’s meeting at Walsh Jesuit High School, Mooney athletic director Don Bucci said.

The move will become official when each of the schools’ respective principals vote on the matter in two-to-three weeks.

Ursuline athletic director Sean Durkin also was in attendance.

The 12-team, two-tier NCL is expanding to 17 teams and three tiers. Mooney and Ursuline will join the first tier with Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Walsh Jesuit, Akron Archbishop Hoban, Cleveland Benedictine and Mentor Lake Catholic.

The Mahoning Valley’s other two NCL teams, Warren JFK and Valley Christian, will occupy the third tier with St. Thomas Aquinas, Garfield Heights Trinity and Gilmour Academy.

Tier I teams will play six conference games. Tier II and III teams will play four games with one crossover game. That crossover game can only occur between Tier II and III teams.

The incumbent NCL athletic directors have told Mooney and Ursuline officials they would be willing to be flexible with the Youngstown schools’ desire to schedule games against local competition.

“It works out good for us,” Bucci said. “We still want to keep Boardman, Austintown Fitch and Warren Harding on our schedule.”

The move will go into effect in the 2017 season. The agreement is exclusive to football, but an all-sports arrangement is a long-term goal, Bucci said.

The two Catholic rivals have been independent since the Steel Valley Conference disbanded in 2003. The league broke up after Boardman and Austintown Fitch left for the Federal League.