If there is no JV team this year, that's a shame. Don't think that's ever been the case in my lifetime.
One of the reasons Gaster's teams were so successful is because he and his staff really built up the JV and middle school programs. While other kids were learning X's and O's and seeing the inside of a weight room for the first time in ninth grade, the AHS kids were already well along in those areas by the time they got to high school.
If the issue is that there just aren't enough interested kids to field a team, then I understand all the debate about consolidation/closing schools. I have lived away for years and haven't really followed that discussion, but it would be better for the kids and their futures to benefit from the resources of a bigger school, rather than keeping tradition alive for its own sake.
Last time would have been 1979 before the ninth grade moved to the senior high campus. I would do everything I could to field a JV team even if they only played five or six games. The players can play on the varsity when there is not an opposing JV team and they can do the eight quarter rule. Coach Smith is smart enough to take care of the paperwork. Believe me, he is a sharp guy and an excellent administrator.