8 man football

[BlueDevil1996]

NC only has a handful of team who are 8 man football and most are private football team like Cary Christian Academy.

Issue is the lack there of team to play and traveling to TN,SC,VA etc but

I would think NC should allow teams who are low on #s or whatever the case have the option to be 11man or 8man in AZ most of the 1a/some 2a teams here are 8 man football but they still have long travel time.

 

[Thunder_struck8712]

I don't think it's too far fetched to think that this is a possibility sooner rather than later. Especially for small 1A schools.

 

[BlueDevil1996]

I don't think it's too far fetched to think that this is a possibility sooner rather than later. Especially for small 1A schools.

I think it’s best for 1A esp in Eastern NC

 

[BK13T-$]

I think it might work for schools like H. Dam.
They have less than 200 but don't have football. Much easier for them to have 8 man.
I wouldnt see any 1a schools in the west changing from 11 to 8.

 

[ObserveAndReport]

I think the issue would be travel. And finding non-leage games...public schools who would benefit from it would be down east or in the mountains, with not much in between.

As far as it being best for 1A, I think 1A in NC goes up so high that I'm not sure I totally agree. Lots of schools have no problem getting up an 11-man team. Maybe best for the small end of 1A that still play football, and some schools that aren't quite big enough to have a football team (H. Dam, Highlands, Cape Hatteras, etc).

 

[ref4e]

Seems that small schools in northeastern NC like Columbia, Cape Hatteras, Mattamuskeet, Bear Grass Charter etc., who struggle to field 11-man teams, could seek a scheduling partnership for football with the small private schools in the area who play 8-man...Lawrence Academy, Halifax Academy, Bethel Christian, Pungo Academy, etc.

 

[Slasher Killer]

8 Man ball honestly is more than likely gonna be the future of small 1A ball before too long. Quite a few schools can't field JV's anymore in small 1A and they will need to find a way to make up for it. Worst case they could do 8 man ball for JV if they can afford it in terms of #'s. A way they could make it more desirable is if the state could do away with the 8 quarter rule to let them play 11 on 11 on Fridays. In that way the JV kids could do 8 man on Thursdays by theirselves and be clear to play the next day as well.

Everyone wins/wins in that case. It might could even be a way to make up for JV's not occurring in bigger schools.

In my area 8 man ball was the norm in the pre WW2 days. MA and Elkin had 11 on 11 teams but the rest of the small pre consolidated schools had an 8 man league. It was:

Franklin and Flat Rock (now North Surry,) Dobson (now Surry Central,) Boonville and Jonesville (now Starmount,) and Yadkinville (now Forbush.) They played for 3 years before WW2 killed everything. Boonville and surprisingly Dobson were the powerhouses but the league died once WW2 started up. It took quite a few years before they started up in 11 man. Franklin didn't until 1948.

I'm sure it was the case in more areas. I don't love 8 man ball per se but I can see it's uses in extreme cases. Private school wise there needs to be that option more. But for small 1A's it might be a true lifesaver.

 

[BK13T-$]

If numbers are a problem then drop JV and start Junior High ball.

 

[ocdavis31]

If numbers are a problem then drop JV and start Junior High ball.

BK, are schools still on the junior high concept in your area (grades 7-9) or the middle school approach (grades 6-8)?

 

[BK13T-$]

SMC has been JH as long as I can remember
The WHC went to JH last year.

 

[ocdavis31]

SMC has been JH as long as I can remember
The WHC went to JH last year.

I believe the junior high concept is pretty rare in most areas of NC. I personally like it better, but the middle school approach has been the norm, at least in most of the Piedmont, for over thirty years.
In the olden days, Thomasville had a 7-8 grade team, a freshman team, jv and varsity. Then they went to middle school with over 1,000 kids at the high school. About 640 now and no change in the district lines, with no new schools. The middle school team is grades 7-8.

 

[BK13T-$]

I think we was the only conference doing it before the WHC last year. Thomas Jefferson used to do it .JH can't play JV teams so we have limited games. 5 or 6 games tops. We used to do a championship but not in the last few years

 

[Vik-Val 86]

I know South Carolina has an 8 man HS football league. It’s called South Carolina Independent School Association ( SCISA) 8 man
I wouldn’t be surprised in the near future seeing N.C. having an 8 man league.

 

[BlueDevil1996]

I believe the junior high concept is pretty rare in most areas of NC. I personally like it better, but the middle school approach has been the norm, at least in most of the Piedmont, for over thirty years.
In the olden days, Thomasville had a 7-8 grade team, a freshman team, jv and varsity. Then they went to middle school with over 1,000 kids at the high school. About 640 now and no change in the district lines, with no new schools. The middle school team is grades 7-8.

In AZ they have Both Junior HS n Middle but Junior is only school has sports n most teams have at HS level have Freshmen/Sophomore team , JV , then Varsity

 

[BK13T-$]

We don't have enough kids here to have middle,JH,JV and Varsity.
Low enrollment is why we have JH.
Varsity is 10-12 no exceptions. Freshman can play either but not both.