IHSAA 8 Man Football Proposal

[foxbat]

1 minute ago, Bonecrusher said:

Many here have described 6-man as being like "basketball on a football field".   Scores, especially the winning team's in mis-matched games, gets crazy high. There is a 45-point mercy rule that gets used a fair bit.  Think of the St Louis Rams "greatest show on turf"-style offense, and you have a high school version of that in the 6-man game if your offense is clicking on all cylinders.  Put two well matched 6-man teams together, it's going to be a very fun and interesting evening if you like huge offensive numbers.  Good offenses score basically every time they get the ball.  Some teams play better D than others, but it's more often than not an offensive showdown.  Oh, and the field is slightly smaller.

I'm not against 6-man.  Better that than nothing.  If the kids want to play, I say more power to them.  There is blocking, tackling, running, passing just like 11-man, but as told to me by a 6-man parent "it ain't quite the same game".  Doesn't mean it's inferior, just different.  Those kids train just as hard and long as 11-man players and are asked to do just as much.

I would rather see schools playing 8-man or co-oping than not playing at all.

Kind of like saying quarterhorses are inferior to thoroughbreds.  Probably take a thoroughbred at the Kentucky Derby, but give me a quarterhorse at the Houston Rodeo all day long.