BERLIN CENTER — The Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference appears to be ready to add another member.

The Western Reserve board of education will vote on Monday to accept the conference’s invitation to join, according to the board agenda. Messages left with the school district went unanswered.

If approved, Western Reserve will restore the league to eight members after Leetonia announced it would leave for the Northeastern Athletic Conference at the end of the school year.

Western Reserve would begin play in the EOAC at the start of the 2027-28 school year and would join current members Columbiana, East Palestine, Lisbon, Southern, United, Wellsville and Valley Christian in the league. Western Reserve would be the second Mahoning County team added to the league after Valley Christian replaced charter member Toronto in 2020.

The Blue Devils already play several EOAC schools. They lost football games to Columbiana, 21-19, on Sept. 5 and a first-round playoff game at East Palestine, 36-35, on Oct. 31.

During this past basketball season, the Blue Devils defeated the Columbiana boys and girls and Leetonia girls.

Western Reserve is currently in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Division. Recently Waterloo informed the MVAC Scarlet Division it is also leaving the for the Greater Portage Athletic Conference after the 2026-27 school year leaving the conference with seven teams, including six that play 11-man football.

The Blue Devils bring a strong recent athletic tradition to the EOAC in both boys and girls sports. Western Reserve played many of the current EOAC teams in league play when it was a part of the Inter-Tri County League from 2006-2017.

Western Reserve is Division VII in football based off of an enrollment of 75 boys in grades 9-11. Western Reserve’s overall district enrollment of boys and girls in grades K-12 is 585 which would be the smallest in the EOAC.