It was late August 2023, at two separate preseason football practices, when coaches for two longtime rivals, Drury and Hoosac Valley, both mentioned — offhandedly and independently of one another — that it would not be long before both programs would most likely become one.

Two seasons later, it was announced that Drury, which already hosted Mount Greylock in a football co-op, would be joining Hoosac in a new, three-team co-op.