Photo: Chance Baskerville, Associated Press

Harrold High School in northwest Texas is no stranger to making the news.

The school with an enrollment of only about 30 students was the first to allow teachers to carry concealed handguns and also the first to challenge a federal transgender bathroom policy.

Now, the school is home to a co-ed football team.

The longtime athletic director, principal and coach Craig Templeton, only had five players out for football last year — one shy of the minimum required to field a team. The Hornets compete in Class A, six-man football, the smallest football classification in Texas.

The 5-foot-4-inch Olivia Perez saw what was happening, and asked to join the team.

Perez didn’t join just to help her school field a team.

Harrold’s lone senior, Brady Blakely, was a talented player who received first team all-district honors as a defensive lineman last season. Perez didn’t want her friend to miss the chance to play in his final year at Harrold.

Perez knew what Blakely’s senior year meant for him not only as a player, but as a way to honor his father, who passed away from cancer the previous November.

“When they told me they didn’t have enough for a team, I stuck my head out and told Coach Templeton that I wanted to play. I want to play for Brady, because I know his dad would’ve wanted him to be on the field for his senior year. I didn’t want him to have to go out like that in his last year in school. We grew pretty close last year, and I just want to do what I can to help,” Perez said to The Associated Press.

Because of Perez, the team now had six players and were able to compete in the 2016 season.

The Hornets had a 0-8 season, but despite the losses, Blakely and Perez had no regrets. Blakely got to play his senior year, just like his father did.

Due to graduates and transfers, Harrold most likely will not have a football team this fall, but are hopeful for the 2018 season.

For more on this story, check out the ESPN feature.