In fact, of the 120 schools that will field football teams this fall in pursuit of the playoffs sanctioned by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, 39 are consolidations that have opened since 1963. That does not count numerous absorptions that have taken place in that time.

None of the consolidations involved a private school. That looks like it soon could change.

The Archdiocese of Wheeling-Charleston is in the early stages of a process that could see the consolidation of Wheeling Central Catholic and Bishop Donahue, which is located in McMechen, just 51/2 miles south of Central's campus in downtown Wheeling.

"Currently there is a 'Blue Ribbon Commission' that is studying the two Catholic high schools in the area (Bishop Donahue and Wheeling Central) to see what the best course of action is," BD Principal Dan Angalich wrote in an e-mail Thursday. "It could be to remain as is, it could be that we could share some resources (teachers, facilities, etc.), or it could be a possible consolidation."

A source close to the Wheeling Central athletic department says a merger is inevitable. He reported that Central was recently the beneficiary of approximately $3 million from the Archdiocese of Wheeling-Charleston for facility improvements. A similar amount was also given to Madonna - located in Weirton - but Bishop Donahue was left with its hands empty.

Citing a steady economic downturn and population decrease, the source said that parochial schools in the Wheeling area have taken a hit significant enough to warrant only one school being open in the Wheeling-Moundsville area.

Angalich disagreed with that claim.

"I have also made clear to the committee that if there were a consolidation that at most I would expect only about 10 to 15 students to go to a combined school at the current Wheeling Central location," Angalich wrote.

Angalich stated it would be a "shame" for the Marshall County catholic community to see rebuilding efforts at Bishop Donahue go to waste. The principal cited the fact that five years ago his school had just 72 students, but will have 150 for the 2010-11 school year.

"It would be a poor message to those in Marshall County," he wrote.

All of this sounds familiar. It happened recently when Paden City successfully fought to remove its closure from Wetzel County's 10-year facilities plan. It happens nearly every time a small school is threatened with having its doors closed.

It's happening right now in Fayette County. After having its plan to consolidate Oak Hill, Midland Trail, Fayetteville and Mount Hope nixed by voters, the state Board of Education stepped in. Now, the county has two separate mergers among its 10-year facility plan.

Under it, Mount Hope will be closed and its students sent to Oak Hill. Fayetteville, Midland Trail and Meadow Bridge - originally out of the consolidation mix - will be consolidated into a single, new building.

"That may be amended. A plan is just a plan," said Fayette County Schools Superintendent Dwight Dials. "It's a variable situation depending on the will of the people and a number of other things."

Dials said that the 10-year plan is only in early stages of development, but that he could see the Mount Hope-to-Oak Hill element coming into play as soon as the 2011-12 school year.

"It may develop with Mount Hope within a year or so, because there is space available at Oak Hill," Dials said. "They put a wing on there and called it the Mount Hope wing about 10-or-15 years ago. They just never have moved the kids over."

Dials said he is sympathetic to the feelings and wishes of alumni and community members that hate to see things change, but is quick to point out that such moves are made in the hopes of staying current with schools and educational systems across the nation.

Dials said a Fayetteville-Midland Trail-Meadow Bridge consolidation would take significantly more time to come to fruition because of the need for a selected location, much less design and construction.

 "I don't like it. Nobody does, but that's the reality when you've got a shifting economy and a shifting enrollment," he said. "Back to the future fits in a movie, but it doesn't fit in a realistic educational scenario."

It also is a misfit in an athletic scenario. A Wheeling Central/Bishop Donahue merger - which would likely be renamed, according to the anonymous source - could either thrust the new school into Class AA-level enrollment. Or, if Angalich is correct in his prediction, it would create a larger version of Wheeling Central that remains in Class A.

"All I know for sure is that the commission is scheduled to make a recommendation to the Bishop at the beginning of November, and that a statement will be forthcoming soon after that," Angalich wrote. "After meeting with the commission last week, I am encouraged that we were able to state our case and I am confident that no decision has been made."

If a new "Ohio Valley Catholic" or "Wheeling Catholic Consolidated" would come into existence as early as next year - as predicted by the source - and Mount Hope closes its doors, Class A could look even more different when new divisions are implemented by the SSAC in 2012.

Big Creek and Iaeger already are gone from the current class structure, having combined to form River View High School. The Raiders will compete in Class AA beginning this fall. Matewan, Williamson, Burch and Gilbert are on schedule to combine forces in 2012 at Mingo Central High. Trinity dropped football two weeks ago.

Of the 42 football-playing Class A schools listed by the SSAC in its most recent reclassification, only 33 would remain. The on-the-drawing-board consolidation in Fayette County would take that number down to 29.

If that scenario plays out, the state's smallest class could have a major personality overhaul, as Magnolia, Tyler Consolidated, Greenbrier West, Mount View and Tug Valley would almost certainly move down from Class AA. Ritchie County, Petersburg, Webster County, Summers County, Poca and Ravenswood would also draw ever closer to small-school status.

"What that's going to create will be crazy," Charleston Catholic Athletic Director Bill Gillispie said Thursday. "Magnolia's in the State Tournament (in boys basketball) a good bit, and they're always there in football. They could be pretty dominant at that level."

Contact sportswriter Derek Taylor at derek.tay...@dailymail.com or 304-348-5170.