The ever-shifting landscape of high school football took another turn Thursday.

The BCS Athletic Conference superintendents gathered to vote on the applications of Benton Harbor and Covert into the league.

At the same meeting, the superintendents found out that Cassopolis Mendon, White Pigeon and Centreville have decided to depart and form a new league with six for SAC members.

Those schools are Decatur, Marcellus, Eau Claire, Hartford, Bangor and Bloomingdale.

That league tentatively would begin play in the fall of 2017-18.

Superintendent Tracy Hertsel of Cassopolis and athletic director Matt Brawley both said that the move has nothing to do with football and has more to do with playing schools of similar size.

They also noted that geography also played a role in the decision.

“Honestly, we’ve had two meetings,” said Brawley Friday night prior to Cassopolis’ Division 7 regional championship game. “The first one was early October. There was discussion and there is still discussion. Nothing has yet been approved by any board. It is strictly discussion, but it has gained momentum very fast.

“For Cass, geographically the longest drive is 37 miles. What a benefit to us. With the addition of Marcellus and Decatur, who are our next-door neighbors, I have always wanted to be in a conference with them from day one. Their enrollment is similar to ours and they are just 10 minutes away.”

“There was some initial talk back at the superintendents conference back in September about trying to merge the SAC and the BCS,” Hertsel said. “It was one of those things that wasn’t even on the forefront and then some people started putting the concept together and looking at it. They approached us and asked us about our interest. We were there to listen and there are still pieces that need to be worked out.

“It just fit us to a ‘T’. The biggest thing is that as we worked through it, these are schools that are our size and with us being in the middle of all of them, it was just adventagious for us.”

The new league would have Bangor with the largest enrollment at 364 students based on current MHSAA figures. Mendon would be the smallest at 203. The Rangers sit in the middle with 278 students.

In the BCS, Berrien Springs has the largest enrollment with 482 students, while Buchanan, Comstock and Parchment. All are Class B schools with enrollments of 448 or more students.

At the same meeting, the BCS superintendents voted on whether or not to accept Benton Harbor and Covert into the league according to a press release from Brandywine Superintendent John Jarpe.

Benton Harbor, with an enrollment of 643, did not receive the needed 70 percent of the votes, while Covert, with an enrollment of 95, was accepted.

“A committee of superintendents from the BCS will contact members of the SAC to meet and possibly plan how the remaining conference members from both leagues will move forward,” states the release issued by Jarpe, who was unavailable for comment.