8-Man

[JQWL]

Is there anywhere you can find information on how the 8-Man season went? We are two years into it now. Is it growing?

[BLACKGOLD2007]

Do they play on a smaller field?

[JQWL]

I'm pretty sure they do.

[foxbat]

3 minutes ago, JQWL said:

Is there anywhere you can find information on how the 8-Man season went? We are two years into it now. Is it growing?

To my knowledge, there were five/six ... possibly a couple more ... teams that played 8-man in Indiana.  It was also my understanding, in talking one of the dads whose son played, that there were a couple of other programs that were playing 11-man that were moving to 8-man next season.  He'd mentioned that Traders Point Christian had indications of moving to 8-man.  Programs that played in 8-man included Waldron, Broad Ripple, Dugger Union, Indiana School for the Deaf, Faith Christian, and Rock Creek.  Faith Christian just announced, after it's first season of 8-man, that it will be moving to 11-man next season.

The big team on the block, at least from the game that I saw, is Indiana School for the Deaf.  They beat Faith Christian in the game that I saw 80-2 scoring on their first play from scrimmage and Faith Christian's last ... that's not a misprint.  ISD played 11-man for almost a quarter century including IHSAA tournaments and moved straight from 11-man to 8-man, so they look more polished than programs just starting out with football like Faith or those that had transition issues.

 

Just now, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

Do they play on a smaller field?

Yes, the field is slightly thinner, but not by a whole bunch ... it's about 40 yards wide.  Length for the game that I saw was standard 100 yards, but 8-main can be played on 80-yard fields.

[BLACKGOLD2007]

5 hours ago, foxbat said:

To my knowledge, there were five/six ... possibly a couple more ... teams that played 8-man in Indiana.  It was also my understanding, in talking one of the dads whose son played, that there were a couple of other programs that were playing 11-man that were moving to 8-man next season.  He'd mentioned that Traders Point Christian had indications of moving to 8-man.  Programs that played in 8-man included Waldron, Broad Ripple, Dugger Union, Indiana School for the Deaf, Faith Christian, and Rock Creek.  Faith Christian just announced, after it's first season of 8-man, that it will be moving to 11-man next season.

The big team on the block, at least from the game that I saw, is Indiana School for the Deaf.  They beat Faith Christian in the game that I saw 80-2 scoring on their first play from scrimmage and Faith Christian's last ... that's not a misprint.  ISD played 11-man for almost a quarter century including IHSAA tournaments and moved straight from 11-man to 8-man, so they look more polished than programs just starting out with football like Faith or those that had transition issues.

 

Yes, the field is slightly thinner, but not by a whole bunch ... it's about 40 yards wide.  Length for the game that I saw was standard 100 yards, but 8-main can be played on 80-yard fields.

I am assuming this is Tackle football as well. 

 

This sounds like fun.  Can schools that have an 11 man also have an 8 man? 

[foxbat]

23 minutes ago, BLACKGOLD2007 said:

I am assuming this is Tackle football as well. 

 

This sounds like fun.  Can schools that have an 11 man also have an 8 man? 

Yep ... tackle.

I don't know if a team can compete post-season in both under IHSAA.  For the most part, it almost seems like it would create a major imbalance of teams between 1A/2A size and 5A/6A as 8-man almost seems to be a classification in and off itself ... i.e., small 1A or sub-1A.  So far, the teams in 8-man are all 1A-sized schools and there's only a single class of 8-man.  It would almost seem that a team that could afford to have both 11-man and 8-man teams would be in a resource-rich environment with bodies and that's likely to be 4A/5A/6A size schools.  I guess you could potentially see a 1A/2A/3A school that might opt for 11-man varsity and turn their JV into an 8-man, but I think that would be less advantageous in the long-run. 

[roaringthunderdlr]

8 man is very small right now. The teams are currently Deaf, Dugger Union, Rock Creek, Waldron, Trader's Point, and Purdue Poly - Broad Ripple, with Faith Christian moving to 11-man.

I wonder if any other teams will add an 8 man team. Morristown and Southwestern Shelby seem like prime examples due to Waldron's participation. It really does depend on the school's interest though. I really doubt a basketball powerhouse such as Barr-Reeve would give much thought as their focus is almost exclusively on basketball, but a struggling program like White River Valley could give it a shot.

[MarshallCounty]

I currently live in SE Indiana. Talked to 2 AD's that I am close to and neither one of them have any interest in starting it.  Cost and finding coaches are the biggest hindrance.

[wabashalwaysfights]

19 hours ago, foxbat said:

Yep ... tackle.

I don't know if a team can compete post-season in both under IHSAA.  For the most part, it almost seems like it would create a major imbalance of teams between 1A/2A size and 5A/6A as 8-man almost seems to be a classification in and off itself ... i.e., small 1A or sub-1A.  So far, the teams in 8-man are all 1A-sized schools and there's only a single class of 8-man.  It would almost seem that a team that could afford to have both 11-man and 8-man teams would be in a resource-rich environment with bodies and that's likely to be 4A/5A/6A size schools.  I guess you could potentially see a 1A/2A/3A school that might opt for 11-man varsity and turn their JV into an 8-man, but I think that would be less advantageous in the long-run. 

This has been discussed a lot in our area and makes a ton of sense given the way roster sizes have gone in recent years.  I struggle to see anyone above 1A doing this, but I suppose they could if they had to.  11 man JV would definitely be preferable, but 8 man JV is better than no JV; you are still giving those athletes a chance to develop against competition that is similar to themselves rather than throwing them "into the fire" as a sophomore with no intermediate experience between Jr. high and Varsity ball.

[ragdoll]

Wonder if 6 man would have become more popular than 8. 

[Muda69]

4 hours ago, roaringthunderdlr said:

I wonder if any other teams will add an 8 man team. Morristown and Southwestern Shelby seem like prime examples due to Waldron's participation. It really does depend on the school's interest though. I really doubt a basketball powerhouse such as Barr-Reeve would give much thought as their focus is almost exclusively on basketball, but a struggling program like White River Valley could give it a shot.

I'm sure Rossville will also decline to participate in 8-man football.

 

[Impartial_Observer]

21 hours ago, roaringthunderdlr said:

8 man is very small right now. The teams are currently Deaf, Dugger Union, Rock Creek, Waldron, Trader's Point, and Purdue Poly - Broad Ripple, with Faith Christian moving to 11-man.

I wonder if any other teams will add an 8 man team. Morristown and Southwestern Shelby seem like prime examples due to Waldron's participation. It really does depend on the school's interest though. I really doubt a basketball powerhouse such as Barr-Reeve would give much thought as their focus is almost exclusively on basketball, but a struggling program like White River Valley could give it a shot.

I would say there’s a better chance of starting soccer in Brownstown than starting football at Barr-Reeve or Loogootee. 

[PCFan1996]

2 hours ago, Impartial_Observer said:

I would say there’s a better chance of starting soccer in Brownstown than starting football at Barr-Reeve or Loogootee. 

A cousin of mine was teaching at Loogootee in the not so distant past.  They had all of the particulars worked out as far as budget and equipment needs.  If I remember correctly, the Superintendent was all for it and then he up and took another job.  Sucks for those kids...missing out on the opportunity to play!

[Ballhawk]

22 hours ago, Muda69 said:

I'm sure Rossville will also decline to participate in 8-man football.

 

It's weird when you drive by and you see the soccer field and track and no goal posts.

I would tend to agree.  Probably won't see the pigskin here.  The rumor was they had football at one time and then dropped it.  Are you aware of this?

[foxbat]

Just now, Ballhawk said:

It's weird when you drive by and you see the soccer field and track and no goal posts.

I would tend to agree.  Probably won't see the pigskin here.  The rumor was they had football at one time and then dropped it.  Are you aware of this?

Without football at the high school, they did garner a youth football team in 2008.  They played youth ball in the Little Gridiron League and there was talk that, perhaps football might be coming back, but after just that one season, their youth program folded.

[Ballhawk]

2 hours ago, foxbat said:

Without football at the high school, they did garner a youth football team in 2008.  They played youth ball in the Little Gridiron League and there was talk that, perhaps football might be coming back, but after just that one season, their youth program folded.

An old timer told me he thought they had football back in the 40s.  I'd have to look back through some old season records to see if that were true.

[foxbat]

4 minutes ago, Ballhawk said:

An old timer told me he thought they had football back in the 40s.  I'd have to look back through some old season records to see if that were true.

I was checking back through some of the old HHC stuff and Hoosier stuff and didn't see anything about football for them.  Also checked Almanac, http://www.almanacsports.com/football/members.php, and didn't see anything there either.

[ragdoll]

 

[btownqbcoach1]

On 12/7/2023 at 7:43 AM, Impartial_Observer said:

I would say there’s a better chance of starting soccer in Brownstown than starting football at Barr-Reeve or Loogootee. 

They're THAT against it? Wild... because zero chance we ever get soccer. 

[ragdoll]

Perhaps Brown County should consider going to 8 man. 

[Impartial_Observer]

2 hours ago, btownqbcoach1 said:

They're THAT against it? Wild... because zero chance we ever get soccer. 

I rest my case. 

[Punttheball]

At the Region 4 meeting it was explained to us that lower level games could be played as 8 man games en lieu of cancelling a game.  So a Varsity could play 11 man and JV could play 8 man.

[SoIndRef]

On 12/7/2023 at 10:31 AM, PCFan1996 said:

A cousin of mine was teaching at Loogootee in the not so distant past.  They had all of the particulars worked out as far as budget and equipment needs.  If I remember correctly, the Superintendent was all for it and then he up and took another job.  Sucks for those kids...missing out on the opportunity to play!

If I am not mistaken, ,there MAY have been a Martin County club team that would have included Shoals and Loogootee.

 

I could be wrong, but weirder things have happened....

[JQWL]

39 minutes ago, SoIndRef said:

If I am not mistaken, ,there MAY have been a Martin County club team that would have included Shoals and Loogootee.

 

I could be wrong, but weirder things have happened....

That was the Martin County Raiders. If I remember right, they had some different age groups. Pretty sure a HS age team was offered.

[Impartial_Observer]

18 hours ago, Punttheball said:

At the Region 4 meeting it was explained to us that lower level games could be played as 8 man games en lieu of cancelling a game.  So a Varsity could play 11 man and JV could play 8 man.

I showed up for a JV game late in the season to be informed we would be playing 8-man. I wasn’t even sure if we could do such a thing, but we had two teams there and four officials so we went with it. 
All that being said, I’m all for smaller schools doing whatever they need to, for kids to play. I don’t want anything to do with it. Didn’t strike me as particularly appealing.