Eight is great: Small-school football thrives in NW Ohio

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Toledo Christian High School lineman Bryson Wills wasn't sure what to expect when he found out he would be playing football with eight players a side instead of the normal 11.

His school faced low roster numbers heading into the 2019 season, with as few as 15 boys signed up to play. Toledo Christian decided in July to switch to an eight-man team and find all new opponents.

For students playing on eight-man teams, the season ended two weeks ago. The Ohio High School Athletic Association does not recognize eight-man football and there are no state playoffs.
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Eight is great: Small-school football thrives in NW Ohio

Toledo Christian High School lineman Bryson Wills wasn't sure what to expect when he found out he would be playing football with eight players a side ...
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Calling it right now. In 2021, 8-man football will become an officially-recognized OHSAA sport, with about 50 or so schools playing, effectively providing a road map for small-school football in Ohio to survive. It'll, for all intents and purposes, replace the current D-7 (with an OHSAA provision that a school cannot field both an 8-man and 11-man team).
 
reganaustinjames said:
Calling it right now. In 2021, 8-man football will become an officially-recognized OHSAA sport, with about 50 or so schools playing, effectively providing a road map for small-school football in Ohio to survive. It'll, for all intents and purposes, replace the current D-7 (with an OHSAA provision that a school cannot field both an 8-man and 11-man team).
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I agree. Interested to see how it goes too. Never watched 8-man before but if it allows small communities to flourish that would be great.
 
I’d guess “thriving” is a strong word. I hope it works but expecting 50 programs and official status seems like a long shot.
 
I’d say a 10 team league in NW Ohio and another one in SE/central Ohio would be a great accomplishment but at least 5 years out if it gains traction
 
reganaustinjames said:
Calling it right now. In 2021, 8-man football will become an officially-recognized OHSAA sport, with about 50 or so schools playing, effectively providing a road map for small-school football in Ohio to survive. It'll, for all intents and purposes, replace the current D-7 (with an OHSAA provision that a school cannot field both an 8-man and 11-man team).
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It's not a different sport. NFHS has four rulesets for football. 6, 8, 9, and 11 man.

And under NFHS rules a school can't have more than one varsity team. Nothing about that changes.
 
Sykotyk said:
It's not a different sport. NFHS has four rulesets for football. 6, 8, 9, and 11 man.

And under NFHS rules a school can't have more than one varsity team. Nothing about that changes.
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OHSAA's General Sports Regulations say -

"Member schools may sponsor more than one varsity or sub-varsity team for interscholastic competition, but each team must have its own schedule and may not exceed the contest limitations for that sport."

Doesn't that sound like it's saying otherwise?
 
EagleFan said:
I’d say a 10 team league in NW Ohio and another one in SE/central Ohio would be a great accomplishment but at least 5 years out if it gains traction
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I could see TVC, MSL, SHAC, and SOC small schools going to 8 man soon in SEO
 
RollingTrain said:
I’d say it’s more like 2-years out
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I think it will be a lot longer. Schools as of now will only go 8 man as a last resort when 11 is no longer possible. To get to 50+ teams you will need schools with up to 30 players going to 8 man I just see schools with numbers in the upper 20's changing.
 
Straight from the 2019 football manual


1.8) EIGHT-PLAYER FOOTBALL High school and 7th-8th grade teams may participate in a modified version of 11-player football by utilizing eight players. 1.8.1) High schools with enrollments of 160 males or less (obtained from October 2018 enrollments plus Competitive Balance factors) may choose to participate in eight-player football. 1.8.2) Schools that choose to play the eight-player format shall not have both an 11-player team and an eight-player team.


So the OHSAA already has both enrollment limits on who can play AND a prohibition on a school having an 8 man and 11 man team.


As for how long it'll take to reallt take off...hard to say. But here in NW Ohio with the dedicated 8 man league already starting, it's not going to take long up here. I could most of the TAAC ending up playing 8 man, along with at least 1 more out of the GMC and possibly a few in the BVC and SBC.
 
Sykotyk said:
It's not a different sport. NFHS has four rulesets for football. 6, 8, 9, and 11 man.

And under NFHS rules a school can't have more than one varsity team. Nothing about that changes.
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NFHS rules have nothing to do with how many teams a school is allowed to field.
 
Let's just hope OHSAA fast tracks this. I think it's great small rural schools can participate in a great American tradition.
 
Raider6309 said:
I could see TVC, MSL, SHAC, and SOC small schools going to 8 man soon in SEO
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The SHAC doesn't currently sponsor football, and I don't see that changing regardless of team size. It would simply be too expensive for most schools to add football (facilities, supplemental contracts, gear, etc.) if they don't currently have it.
 
dhsdog06 said:
Straight from the 2019 football manual


1.8) EIGHT-PLAYER FOOTBALL High school and 7th-8th grade teams may participate in a modified version of 11-player football by utilizing eight players. 1.8.1) High schools with enrollments of 160 males or less (obtained from October 2018 enrollments plus Competitive Balance factors) may choose to participate in eight-player football. 1.8.2) Schools that choose to play the eight-player format shall not have both an 11-player team and an eight-player team.


So the OHSAA already has both enrollment limits on who can play AND a prohibition on a school having an 8 man and 11 man team.


As for how long it'll take to reallt take off...hard to say. But here in NW Ohio with the dedicated 8 man league already starting, it's not going to take long up here. I could most of the TAAC ending up playing 8 man, along with at least 1 more out of the GMC and possibly a few in the BVC and SBC.
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The only issue that I see with using enrollment size as the determining factor is that it is not always reflective of the interest/number of boys participating in football. A school with 135 boys and only football and cross country offered in the fall is very different than a school with 175 boys but offers football, soccer, golf and cross country. I know that there has to be a guideline in place but there are other factors involved other than simply boy enrollment. It affects the disparity of teams in lower divisions as well but again, there has to be a systematic way to divide teams into divisions and thats the simplest way, enrollment. I get it but there are exceptions.
 
I think the Northwest Central Conference should become an 8 Man football league. Lima Perry, the league champion, had maybe 24 kids and I think in an 8 man setting, they could be more successful along with teams like Upper Scioto Valley and Ridgemont who had #'s in the high teens.
 
BT17 said:
The SHAC doesn't currently sponsor football, and I don't see that changing regardless of team size. It would simply be too expensive for most schools to add football (facilities, supplemental contracts, gear, etc.) if they don't currently have it.
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They all have teams but are club. D5 to D7, half the schools barely have teams
 
Here's some 8-man football:

Wiley (CO) v. Holly (CO)




Out west, tailgating isn't reserved for pregame.




Game is still football:








And probably my favorite photo from the game :



Photos from this game and two others in Colorado that weekend (Friday afternoon 6-man game at Weldon Valley and Friday night 11-man game at Wiggins as well).

Some bonus photos:

6-man: Weldon Valley v. Flagler/Hi-Plains at Weldona, Colorado


11-man: Wiggins v. Yuma at Wiggins, Colorado. Beautiful sunset.
 
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Raider6309 said:
They all have teams but are club. D5 to D7, half the schools barely have teams
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Fayetteville and Manchester have school-sponsored teams. Eastern, Georgetown, North Adams, Peebles, and West Union have club teams (not at all affiliated with the school). Fairfield, Whiteoak, and Lynchburg have nothing.

I could see the Adams County schools adding it in the distant future, but they're currently going through some pretty big district budget issues. The other schools just don't have the infrastructure to make adding football feasible. Most would probably have to cut their soccer teams (like Manchester), too.
 
BT17 said:
Fayetteville and Manchester have school-sponsored teams. Eastern, Georgetown, North Adams, Peebles, and West Union have club teams (not at all affiliated with the school). Fairfield, Whiteoak, and Lynchburg have nothing.

I could see the Adams County schools adding it in the distant future, but they're currently going through some pretty big district budget issues. The other schools just don't have the infrastructure to make adding football feasible. Most would probably have to cut their soccer teams (like Manchester), too.
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I didnt realize they were club with no school backing. That def. changes things for them.
 
Sykotyk: I did a tour of duty out in Lamar, Colorado. 6-man (and 8-man in other parts) is really fun to watch. Old farts 'round Ohio don't know what they're missing.....and I'm in my mid 50's. :D Great photos.
 
Texas has an enrollment limit for schools that want to play six-man football. I think it's 100. If you have less students, you can play six-man football. If you are over that number, you have to play eleven-man.
 
algernonsidney said:
Texas has an enrollment limit for schools that want to play six-man football. I think it's 100. If you have less students, you can play six-man football. If you are over that number, you have to play eleven-man.
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They've bumped it up to 105. Used to be 95 and then moved to 100.

And that's all students, male and female for all four grades.

If you're under you can opt to play 11 man. But if you're over and want to play 6-man you're called a "renegade schedule" and play independent and not eligible for the playoffs.

But there is a six man independent championship that just started for teams not member of a state association (Texas has several) or have opted out of the state playoffs to play six man.
 
USA70PP said:
Does anyone know of any school that may be opting to go to 8 man next year?
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I would suspect there will be little movement to 8 man until this summer when schools see the numbers they have. As of now schools see 8 man as a last resort when they just can't safely field an 11 man team. Public's fear will lose kids to open enrollment and privates back to their home district school.
 
CC Track Fan said:
I would suspect there will be little movement to 8 man until this summer when schools see the numbers they have. As of now schools see 8 man as a last resort when they just can't safely field an 11 man team. Public's fear will lose kids to open enrollment and privates back to their home district school.
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I used to think that way, but I'm not so sure anymore. There's been a number of small schools around NW Ohio engaged in some pretty serious talk about it.
 
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