Eight Man Football

[GA Russell]

I spent last week in Kansas on a (mostly) business trip. Friday night a friend took me to my first Eight Man high school football game.

I have read references to this in the past, but I've never known anyone who went to a school that fielded an eight man team. In Kansas, if the total student population (grades 10-12), including the girls, is over 100, then the school must field an eleven man team. If under 100, then it's eight man.

The field is only 80 yards between the goal lines. It is also narrower than usual, by five or six yards I think.

There are five eligible receivers, so apparently the three missing men are a back and the two tackles.

This was the first game of the season. My friend's team, St. John's, had no trouble scoring. Actually, the team was a composite of two schools' students, St. John's and Tipton. They played Rock Hills at Rock Hills' stadium. The bleachers were enough to accomodate only a few hundred people, and they were only on one side of the field.

St. John's had a bench of only four players. Rock Hills had a team of a few more. So everyone was an ironman, playing both O and D. There are no tryouts. Anyone who wants to be on the team can be.

St. John's had no trouble scoring. They never attempted a placekick PAT, and went for two (and made it) every time.

Early in the third quarter, they scored a TD to make the score 46-0. At that point the game was stopped. There is a 45 point slaughter rule.

It was my first high school game since I was in high school. I think that the crowd was made up entirely of the families of the players.

Anybody here go to a high school so small that they played eight man football?

[Jazzmoose]

No, but when I played intermural football in college (dorm against dorm and such) it was eight man. I never liked it since I was a guard from sixth grade on, and always felt like I was next to go or something...

[Rooster_Ties]

Forwarded the original post to my wife (who grew up in Kansas City, KS). She's a MUCH bigger sports fan than I am (she lives for Kansas Jayhawk basketball, and she loves college football too). I asked about her high school (which was in a semi-rural area, on the edge of the greater Kansas City metro), and she said...

My old high school has always been a 4A school to my knowledge (it might be approaching 5A status now). The biggest schools in Kansas are 6A. 20-25 years ago we had about 180-225 kids in grades 10-12. Now it's probably closer to 300-400.

8-man is for the REALLY tiny schools out in western KS. I think it's still competitive and it's pretty much the entertainment for the town.

I think it is interesting, and like small towns themselves, is a bit of dying Americana.

Edited September 9, 2008 by Rooster_Ties