Andrew Spear for The New York Times
MARIA STEIN, Ohio — About a mile past St. John the Baptist Church and across the street from a grain elevator stands the heart and soul of this small, western Ohio community: Marion Local High School.
The sons and daughters of farmers, tradesmen, engineers and small-business owners inhabit its hallways and spill onto its playing fields. On Friday nights in autumn they come together, sporting the Blue and Gold to cheer their football team, the Flyers.
What makes Marion Local an outlier here is that the football team has players — lots of them.