The Crook County Cowboys will be moving up to play in the 5A Intermountain Conference, making up the east wing of the Central Oregon-only league.

The Cowboys open up against a familiar 4A opponent, though, when they host Estacada on Sept. 5. They then hit the road to take on the 5A Ashland Grizzlies, which are playing a 4A schedule, on Sept. 12.

Crook County is in the midst of finding a ninth game to fill out its schedule.

Once league play kicks in, the Cowboys will have home games against Redmond (Sept. 19), Mountain View (Oct. 3), and Summit (Oct. 18). They’ll face Bend (Sept. 26), Ridgeview (Oct. 10) and Caldera (Oct. 24) on the road.

Crook County will end the regular season with a non-conference home game against South Albany Oct. 31.

For the past several years, the Cowboys have been playing in a Special 4A district with Eastern Oregon teams, Pendleton, Ontario, La Grande and Baker. With the Cowboys departing that league, The Dalles has been included.

The Cowboys’ former 4A league for other sports, the Tri-Valley Conference, has been blown up. Estacada and Molalla, two longtime Tri-Valley teams, will be in Special District 2 which, on paper, appears to be a tough league. It will also include Cascade, Stayton and Woodburn, which is a 5A school that will be playing down in the 4A division this fall. Gladstone, another former Tri-Valley team, is pairing with Riverdale and is in Special District 1, which consists of Northwest Oregon coastal region teams.