Thoughts on 7 on 7 Football

[VetteMan]

With a lot of Small Schools having problems keeping enough Kids healthy enough to complete a 10 game season,what are your thoughtson playing 7 on 7 Football? I guess Flag Football could even be a consideration.

[seopcommenter]

not enuff grit in 7on7 football. would need more fullbacks

[greygoose]

Believe you're referencing 8 man football and it already exist.

[indianabuck]

8 man already exists, and is very successful in some states. I don't see Ohio doesn't look into this. When 2/3 of a conference could drop football in the next couple years, it still gives the kids football to play against schools their size.

[VetteMan]

8 man already exists, and is very successful in some states. I don't see Ohio doesn't look into this. When 2/3 of a conference could drop football in the next couple years, it still gives the kids football to play against schools their size.

Im sure that you are probably right about it being 8 man. I never did see a game, but years ago when I was in the Air Force and was staioned out West, I remember reading about some small schools that because of small numbers, they were playing 8 man football. It just seems as if every year we hear about more and more schools having smaller numbers for what ever reason. I know it would not be popular with a lot of people, but it might very well be something that could be considered.

[noreply66]

Isn't this what they play in Alaska and some northern mid west states.

[Omega]

I have seen eight man football games and I would rate the quality of play as good. The games were high scoring, wide open passing affairs. Definitely not Woody Hayes smash mouth football but entertaining.

There are a few schools in southern/southeast Ohio whose football programs are in jeopardy. Declining enrollment, low participation rates, injury concerns, and finances combine to make football a low hanging fruit to eliminate.

Yet eight man football still would face the same problems and of course you would need a number of schools to change to the eight man format for it to work and receive
OHSAA sanction.

[ThirdandLong]

I can see it working. Might be higher scoring and more fun to watch.

[VetteMan]

Im sure that Alaska was one of the States that was mentioned. I also see some of the same problems that the schools are facing today. There would have to be enough schools involved for it to be feasible. To be able to play a 8 to 10 game season. Travel would still be a problem as it is today. I guess each team could play each other more than 1 time each year. Im sure that the States that are doing it faced the same issues when starting also. Also the OHSAA sanctioning. Just something possibly to consider down the Road.

[VetteMan]

I don't know where I came up with the 7 on 7 football. I now realize that what I had read about years ago was really 8 on 8 football.After doing just a little reseach, there are 30 States that do play 8 on 8 High School Football. I couldn't believe that some States even play 6 on 6, as well as 9 on 9. Out of the 30 States that do play 8 0n 8,there is a total of 1161 teams. Again, Sorry for the wrong 7 on 7 topic, I just messed up.

[formerfcfan]

There is traction happening for 8v8 in Central Ohio. Several programs are playing JR high and JV contests as 8-man games.

[VetteMan]

That's very interesting. Is that just happening in a lot of the smaller schools? This is even more surprising to me. As large a State as Texas is, I read where they have 234 high schools that play 6 on 6 football.

[formerfcfan]

That's very interesting. Is that just happening in a lot of the smaller schools? This is even more surprising to me. As large a State as Texas is, I read where they have 234 high schools that play 6 on 6 football.

Primarily smaller ones, yes. Grandview Heights, Grove City Christian and Fairfield Christian (who is barely holding onto football in general) are all doing 8-Man in junior high. Fisher has played two JV games as 8-man contests, both vs Crooksvikle and GCC.

[VetteMan]

Do you think that it is primarily just because of lower numbers at most of these schools? I don't know if any SEO schools are doing this yet or not, but it seems as if when reading about some of the smaller schools, that lower numbers are becoming more and more of a issue every year.

[VetteMan]

I seemed to have asked you the same thing twice. I meant to ask if you thought that low numbers was the ( Only ) reason that these schools were playing 8 on 8?

[formerfcfan]

All of the schools that I mentioned, with the exception of Grandview Heights, are pretty small. For that matter, they’ve always been small but there is less kids coming out for football.

Rosecrans and Fisher, for instance, no longer have middle school football teams; instead, they have middle school soccer. They in particular may not have enough boys in the JR high classes to field both 8-man and soccer. But, come high school, both schools fully intend on the varsity football to be staying at 11-man (even if numbers are below 20.)

One other common denominator perhaps more specific to the schools I mentioned, as opposed to it also being in the case for a few tiny SE Ohio D7’s, is that these schools offer a lot of engaging athletic programs that aren’t football. GCC has air rifle, FCA has archery, FC has sports like tennis, bowling. I guess my point on this one is that the kids who would otherwise play football are at least staying involved in activities that peak their interest; but, there’s just so few kids to go around that sports like football have to compete for the participation numbers. Hope that makes sense?? I didn’t explain this one as artfully as I probably did.

[VetteMan]

You explained it fine. Thank you for responding.

[BobcatBall]

Very big supporter of 7-7.

Football is dying at most smaller schools. Concerns about concussions, long term injuries and just a culture change are pointing to a end.
Big programs and schools will be fine. Let the smaller programs adapt and change to stay alive.

[Zunardo]

My first thought re the prospect of higher scoring during 8-on-8 was, how does this impact the 30-point differential (mercy) rule?

Having said, I found the answer pretty quickly in the following link. It said a relatively high point differential can be erased in minutes under the smaller format, and the threshold is usually raised to 45 points.

http://www.8manfootball.net/About8man.html

[VetteMan]

My first thought re the prospect of higher scoring during 8-on-8 was, how does this impact the 30-point differential (mercy) rule?

Having said, I found the answer pretty quickly in the following link. It said a relatively high point differential can be erased in minutes under the smaller format, and the threshold is usually raised to 45 points.

http://www.8manfootball.net/About8man.html

Very good article. With the problems that so many of the smaller Schools in the State are having with the low numbers, I'm a little surprised that they haven't looked into or even considered 8 0n 8 Football. Mayby they have,I guess there could be other reasons. I just know that I read that 30 States are playing 8 on 8 right now.