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.

Nationally, high school participation in 11-man football has fallen by more than 10 percent since 2009. In Ohio, it has plummeted by 27 percent. Nationally, children who are white now account for 56 percent of high school football players, compared with 76 percent in 2006. Marion Local’s players are overwhelmingly white.

And they don’t need to play football. Nearly all of them will go to college, their football careers in the rearview mirror. The median income for a family in Mercer County is $60,251. Unemployment and crime are below national averages.