NEW ENGLAND - Football has been very, very good to New England.

The walls of the high school gym are plastered with dozens of the Tigers' orange and black football championship banners, more than for all other sports combined.

When it comes to the gridiron, especially at the 9-man level, New England has been one tough cookie.

But because of declining enrollment, the ingredients don't hold together anymore. That's the way the cookie crumbles in many small towns across the state, into smaller and smaller crumbs.

Only 14 boys will be playing next fall. That's barely enough for one team, much less a junior varsity. This fall, the school had 35 boys total in high school, the smallest male enrollment of any 9-man school in the state.

The handwriting is on the wall.

Unfortunately, it won't spell out hometown championships any longer.

New England, so long a football powerhouse, faces a tough choice. Where to go?

The school board invited parents and students to talk about options Wednesday and about 40 showed up, despite the cold night and lightly falling snow.

Two play options were diagramed: co-op football with Mott-Regent and align at home in Hettinger County; or, co-op with Dickinson Trinity High School.

The football boys who showed up said they don't want to play with Trinity and they'd open enroll to other schools if necessary.

Trinity is to 11-man football and just about every other sport what New England has been to 9-man - a frequently unbeatable rival and one that stops most other southwestern schools in their tracks when it comes to advancing to championships.

The boys said they'd rather play with Mott-Regent, because they'd get to play more.

Chris Koffler, a sophomore, said he'd open enroll to Dickinson High School, and Corbin Smith, also a sophomore, said he'd open enroll to Mott-Regent, if the co-op goes to Trinity.

"They've always been rivals and it'd be harder for us to get playing time," Smith said.

New England Superintendent Noel Lunde said he told the boys there's nothing wrong with aligning with success. Lunde said he thinks the boys' attitude will change if they visit the school and meet Trinity students, as suggested.

Trinity principal Kelly Koppinger said he thinks the tradition of two strong football programs would make a good marriage.

Koppinger said Trinity is also facing declining enrollment. It's the smallest 11-man AA program in the state, with an enrollment of 104 boys grades nine through 12.

He said playing time "wouldn't be an issue," especially on the underclass teams.

The New England School Board will wait to hear if Trinity's school board approves a co-op before making a decision.

New England used to co-op football with Regent, but dropped out when Regent consolidated into a school district with Mott.

Mott-Regent Superintendent Myron Schweitzer said his program probably couldn't take on New England. He said adding New England would punt them into 11-man football, required when there are more than 75 boys in the combined schools' enrollment.

"There's no way people would go for it," Schweitzer said.

Mott-Regent School Board member Don Schaible also is on the board of the North Dakota High School Activities Association.

Schaible said the activities association will present a three-year plan for activities by January and it's possible the 75-male enrollment number could change upward for 9-man.

Either way, the Hettinger County schools will all lose enough students in the next several years so they wouldn't exceed the current 9-man cutoff. In the meantime, though, New England doesn't have enough players to hang on by itself.

Mott-Regent School Board member Bill Gion said he'd like to see cooperation with New England extend from the playing field into the classroom.

"If we can't figure it out in athletics, we'll really hurt in the classroom," Gion said. "If we stay in a 9-man system with you guys in, the community wants that. These are great kids and we'd do the best we can for them."

Looking at the demographics of the future, Gion said there might be only a small sprinkling of sustainable schools in southwestern North Dakota.

"If we don't partner up, we'll all go down," he said.

Daryl Jung, New England's athletic director, said the board shouldn't take too long of a time out on the issue.

"Our backs are up against the wall," he said.

Jung said New England will face fines if it cancels already scheduled games, plus students who may want to go to other schools under open enrollment agreements have to make application by February.

Lunde, New England's superintendent, said it comes down to mileage for many parents.

Dickinson is about 25 miles north of England. Mott, where Mott-Regent's football field is located, is 42.

Lunde said New England would try to factor in any possible changes in the 9-man configuration, if the activities association announces one. But the change wouldn't come into play until 2007 anyway.

"It's too bad we're not a little closer," he said.