8-man Football

Sykotyk said:
Under NFHS, which OHSAA follows, 8-man football is just under football. It isn't its own sport. The fact so many people have to have this beaten into their heads is a little surprising.
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Even so, realistically running a post season tournament probably requires more than 8. Not sure what the number would be. Could be some momentum coming that pushes this forward.
 
EagleFan said:
Even so, realistically running a post season tournament probably requires more than 8. Not sure what the number would be. Could be some momentum coming that pushes this forward.
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The OHSAA could just be proactive and set a threshold for teams to be relegated to 8-man and go back to 6 divisions for 11-man. I’d probably add the ability for teams to opt into 11-man if they want to. The reality is that too many people are too proud to make the move so it may take the OHSAA intervening to speed the process up
 
Bulldawg18 said:
The OHSAA could just be proactive and set a threshold for teams to be relegated to 8-man and go back to 6 divisions for 11-man. I’d probably add the ability for teams to opt into 11-man if they want to. The reality is that too many people are too proud to make the move so it may take the OHSAA intervening to speed the process up
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I'd set the threshold at 100. Any school below can opt to play-up to D6 if they want.
 
Sykotyk said:
I'd set the threshold at 100. Any school below can opt to play-up to D6 if they want.
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That’s reasonable, I’d also add that there’d be a probationary period before they can get back to 11-man off of enrollment….like 4 years of sustaining a high enough enrollment. This would help avoid having teams yoyo back and forth every year or two
 
Bulldawg18 said:
That’s reasonable, I’d also add that there’d be a probationary period before they can get back to 11-man off of enrollment….like 4 years of sustaining a high enough enrollment. This would help avoid having teams yoyo back and forth every year or two
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The Dock said:
not really sure this is a problem worth addressing, let alone trying to legislate.
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Texas has just 6-man, so the jump is a bit more jarring, but the UIL has a two year grace period before you're forced to move up. So, say one two year cycle you're 6-man, and the next two you're 11-man, you can stay down. But if you're 11-man for the next two years, you have to move up or opt out of the playoffs. it helps for schools right near the cutoff to avoid yoyoing.
 
smurfyeah19 said:
Can confirm, it’s becoming a serious issue in NW Ohio. Small school leagues are crumbling
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It seems each year there’s another school on the verge of not having 11 man football. St. Joe just threw in the towel. How long till it’s Vanlue, Arcadia or New London.
 
I think the decision to run a playoff might be the OHSAA's to make, but rules that attempt to force or encourage teams down to 8-man would be the members to make.

The schools that have been playing 8-man are staying 8-man thus far, so hopefully that assists with the growth across Ohio. Ideally 3-4 conferences in various corners of the state would be good and we would then have the OHSAA running a post-season tourney.

If that means 11-man going to 6 divisions, who knows. Don't be surprised even if 40 go 8-man, 7 11-man divisions remain.
 
EagleFan said:
I think the decision to run a playoff might be the OHSAA's to make, but rules that attempt to force or encourage teams down to 8-man would be the members to make.

The schools that have been playing 8-man are staying 8-man thus far, so hopefully that assists with the growth across Ohio. Ideally 3-4 conferences in various corners of the state would be good and we would then have the OHSAA running a post-season tourney.

If that means 11-man going to 6 divisions, who knows. Don't be surprised even if 40 go 8-man, 7 11-man divisions remain.
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Have you seen the OHSAA in recent years? They're like the Democrat party of today; they want complete unchecked control over every aspect of everything. I see them putting some kind of ridiculous rule in place.
 
EagleFan said:
I think the decision to run a playoff might be the OHSAA's to make, but rules that attempt to force or encourage teams down to 8-man would be the members to make.

The schools that have been playing 8-man are staying 8-man thus far, so hopefully that assists with the growth across Ohio. Ideally 3-4 conferences in various corners of the state would be good and we would then have the OHSAA running a post-season tourney.

If that means 11-man going to 6 divisions, who knows. Don't be surprised even if 40 go 8-man, 7 11-man divisions remain.
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Oh I'm fairly certain the OHSAA is not giving up an 11-man division. 8-man would most likely be D8. Either by converting D7 and adding another division later or by just adding another division right off the jump.
 
Sykotyk said:
Oh I'm fairly certain the OHSAA is not giving up an 11-man division. 8-man would most likely be D8. Either by converting D7 and adding another division later or by just adding another division right off the jump.
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One thing to also consider is the fact that D7 at the moment is dominated by a juggernaut in Marion Local. You could argue that Marion Local would’ve been a final four team in D3 out of Region 12, how any program barely staying alive can even hope to compete with that I do not know.
 
smurfyeah19 said:
One thing to also consider is the fact that D7 at the moment is dominated by a juggernaut in Marion Local. You could argue that Marion Local would’ve been a final four team in D3 out of Region 12, how any program barely staying alive can even hope to compete with that I do not know.
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It's one reason why I think D7 (or whatever the lowest division is) should have a 72 cap the same way D1 has. Just the 72 smallest schools. There's a HUGE difference between a public school with 70 males 9-11 and 100 males 9-11. Honestly probably a bigger disparity than D1 because at least they have more numbers to pull potential players. At lower D7, you're just looking for anyone interested in playing, regardless of ability.
 
Sykotyk said:
It's one reason why I think D7 (or whatever the lowest division is) should have a 72 cap the same way D1 has. Just the 72 smallest schools. There's a HUGE difference between a public school with 70 males 9-11 and 100 males 9-11. Honestly probably a bigger disparity than D1 because at least they have more numbers to pull potential players. At lower D7, you're just looking for anyone interested in playing, regardless of ability.
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That’s a tremendous idea. Patrick Henry was the 3rd best team in the NWOAL, with close wins against number 4 and 5, and yet rolled to a regional championship. Really shows the disparity, a team that would’ve been around a 7-8 seed in D5 made it to Week 15 in D7
 
SBClives said:
It seems each year there’s another school on the verge of not having 11 man football. St. Joe just threw in the towel. How long till it’s Vanlue, Arcadia or New London.
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If you told anyone this 10 years ago that Vanlue would still be playing 11-man football and Fremont St. Joe's wouldn't be, you'd have this board and legacy JJHuddle posters laughing in your face....definitely words I thought we'd ever be typing
 
buckeyetobobcat said:
If you told anyone this 10 years ago that Vanlue would still be playing 11-man football and Fremont St. Joe's wouldn't be, you'd have this board and legacy JJHuddle posters laughing in your face....definitely words I thought we'd ever be typing
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Vanlue finishing games with 10 kids is embarrassing. Parents telling kids they better play football so there’s something to do on a Friday is a bad look also.
 
SBClives said:
Vanlue finishing games with 10 kids is embarrassing. Parents telling kids they better play football so there’s something to do on a Friday is a bad look also.
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I thought that maybe with the BVC dropping them and there being an 8-man opportunity in NW Ohio it would finally be enough. But no, they’ve managed to find 9-10 desperate enough teams for wins to make a full schedule. I don’t get it - get your brains beat in so 3 more kids can be on the field at the same time…or have three kids on the sidelines to sub in and out and maybe be competitive for a few quarters.
 
RollingTrain said:
I thought that maybe with the BVC dropping them and there being an 8-man opportunity in NW Ohio it would finally be enough. But no, they’ve managed to find 9-10 desperate enough teams for wins to make a full schedule. I don’t get it - get your brains beat in so 3 more kids can be on the field at the same time…or have three kids on the sidelines to sub in and out and maybe be competitive for a few quarters.
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It's why I wish the state would step in. I know it's easy to throw eggs but there's a lot of times where regulation is needed, making 8-man a sport or mandating co-ops to maintain a roster of 20? kids would go a long way
 
RollingTrain said:
I thought that maybe with the BVC dropping them and there being an 8-man opportunity in NW Ohio it would finally be enough. But no, they’ve managed to find 9-10 desperate enough teams for wins to make a full schedule. I don’t get it - get your brains beat in so 3 more kids can be on the field at the same time…or have three kids on the sidelines to sub in and out and maybe be competitive for a few quarters.
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Vanlue has 4 home games scheduled for next season (still have an open week). Those 4 teams are traveling a combined 878 round trip miles to get a win.
 
smurfyeah19 said:
It's why I wish the state would step in. I know it's easy to throw eggs but there's a lot of times where regulation is needed, making 8-man a sport or mandating co-ops to maintain a roster of 20? kids would go a long way
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This is a situation where the school's or OHSAA's insurance provider could tighten some screws by requiring some kind of minimum
 
reganaustinjames said:
Have you seen the OHSAA in recent years? They're like the Democrat party of today; they want complete unchecked control over every aspect of everything. I see them putting some kind of ridiculous rule in place.
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I believe you may have your political party’s mixed up. In Ohio it is the Republican Party who wants to control every aspect of our daily lives. This is true even after the people of Ohio have spoken at the ballot box. To name a few gerrymandering, access to abortion, and marijuana use to name a few.
 
RollingTrain said:
You are probably getting into some costly legal mumble jumble there
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Insurance, along with probably fire code, dictates more you think. If something were to happen here, and insurance could show that the school acted negligently by putting a kid in an unreasonably dangerous situation and deny a potential claim, then the legal effects end up getting even more costly. And that situation is what absolutely NO ONE wants and will go to great lengths to avoid. It's why contracts in the business world are often structured in the way that they are; to provide legal protection, and few industries know that better than insurance companies. If OHSAA's insurance came in and said, "A school needs X number of eligible players to play in an 11-game in order for us to feel comfortable taking on the risk," a minimum-participant bylaw would be implemented within seconds.
 
danville96 said:
Vanlue has 4 home games scheduled for next season (still have an open week). Those 4 teams are traveling a combined 878 round trip miles to get a win.
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Did you include the recently scheduled home game against Petersburg-Summerfield (MI)? That one will be about 80 miles each way.
 
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