Eight-Man Football

With the recent announcement that Fairbury High School would be moving to the eight-man football for the next two school years, FJN thought it would be an opportune moment to rerun this history of the game in Nebraska. By Gordon Hopkins Six-man football was first established in 1934 for schools with fewer students and became quite popular, especially throughout the Midwest, where school enrollments were devastated by the Great Depression. However, by the fifties, the six-man version of the game began being supplanted by an alternate version considered closer to traditional 11-man football.Unlike the six-man version of the game, which was known to be invented Stephen Epler, there appears to be no definitive record of the creation of eight-man football. It seems to have simply sprung into existence sometime in the early forties.Kansas gave the eight-man game a shot for the first time on Friday, Oct. 23, 1942. The Rossville and Lecompton high school teams played. The traditional 11-man variety was originally planned for that night but injuries on the Lecompton side made it impossible.The lineup included a center, two guards, two ends and three backs.While there may be no record giving credit to the inventor of eight-man football, credit is easily available for the man who brought the game to Nebraska high schools: Vince Carlin, coach of St. Patrick’s School in Fremont. In 1950, Carlin began a campaign to convince Nebraska schools to adopt the eight-man variety. His reasoning was straightforward. “A lot of schools are too big for six-man football and not big enough for the 11-man game,” said Carlin in an interview with the Nebraska State Journal. “That's where we find ourselves.”Carlin also felt more fans would go to see eight-man games as it was closer to the 11-man style than six-man, which was dismissed by some critics as a “glorified sandlot game.” The game was already being played in some parts of Iowa and Illinois and proving to be a crowd pleaser.Unlike six-man football, which had most of the rules established early on by Epler, there weren’t really any “set in stone” rules for the eight-man version. It was Carlin’s intention to play the eight-man game mostly by 11-man rules, with the exception of the field size and first downs, which would follow six-man rules.Carlin spoke to many fellow Nebraska coaches in the hopes of setting up an eight-man conference but, by the end of 1951, there were no takers. Undeterred, Carlin continued his quest and managed to get two games into the 1951 season. St. Patrick's against Elkhorn and Northbend against Elkhorn. Carlin was disappointed he couldn’t get more than two other schools to participate, but the games were deemed a success. A number of coaches from surrounding areas attended the games, perhaps mulling over the possibilities of eight-man teams.According to the Fremont Tribune, “The fans also enjoyed watching it. Many said that it is a more solid game of football and does away with loose scoring play characteristics of six-man games. Most of St. Patrick's rooters stated that they wished the school would drop six-man entirely and concentrate on eight-man football.”Indeed, the Fremont Tribune seemed as eager as Carlin to see eight-man football gain a foothold in Nebraska. In the paper’s reporting of the first ever game, several enthusiastic fans were quoted.Jack Petrow, postal employee, told the interviewer, “I definitely like it. The fact is, I think that after other six-man teams see or play eight-man football they will not want to go back to six-man.”C.J. Rouse, Fremont businessman, said, “It's a combination of six- and 11-man football. It shows the speed of six-man and provides the razzle-dazzle seen in 11 man.”George Boosalis, cafe manager, said he liked the idea of a five-man line rather than a three-man line as in six-man football because it strengthens the defensive game. He also said eight-man offers a better passing attack, which can increase scoring “punch.” All of Carlin’s hard work and promotion bore fruit. By 1954, the game was played officially, as opposed to experimentally, by 15 schools in Nebraska. That same year, six-man teams in Nebraska dropped to 169, from a high of 183 the previous year.By 1955, Nebraska had 44 eight-man high school football teams, of which 17 played either six-man or 11-man as well. Two schools played all three varieties.In 1956, Vince Carlin resigned his position as coach. He had coached there since 1948. The St. Patrick’s Booster Club sponsored a farewell banquet in his honor, attended by 180 friends, athletes and fellow faculty. The president of the Booster Club presented the coach with a $500 check as a parting gift. Despite Carlin’s leaving, eight-man football continued to flourish. 1956 was the last year that six-man teams in Nebraska outnumbered eight.According to the Beatrice Daily Sun, “Eight-man football, a Johnny-come-lately to the Nebraska high school sports scene, is growing up.”What this meant was that participation had finally reached the point where the Nebraska School-Activities Association decided it was time to set some consistent “ground rules” for the game. Three dozen schools received questionnaires about how eight-man was played. The answers were used to standardize rules of play.It was decided eight-man would be scored largely like 11-man, six points for a touchdown, one for a conversion, three points for a field goal and two for a safety.First down would be 10 yards, like 11-man. First down for six-man football was 15. During the previous year, first down for eight-man varied by school, 10, 12, 12 and ½, and 15 yards.In a few instances, six-man rules were adopted. Most notably the field, which would be 40 x 80 yards, though NSAA rules would allow use of the standard 100 yard field if both teams consented.Quarters were 10 minutes each. There were no nationally accepted standards for eight-man uniforms, so Nebraska designed its own.Odell began its first year with an eight-man team in 1957 with a new coach, Don Holscher. It turns out to have been a good year, even with an inaugural coach and playing format. The Odell team closed out the season by defeating the Adams Hornets 33 to 7. Odell pulled off 334 yards rushing, compared with Adams’ 138. Odell had only two losses that year, to Filley and the top-rated Exeter.In 1962, Dan Tesar, an outstanding athlete during his high school days, was the only player from Dorchester’s eight-man team to play in the 1962 North-South Shrine game. The South team lost 28 to 0.Tesar would get a chance to redeem himself 22 years later when, as head coach for Tri County high School, he would once again head to the Shrine game, accompanied by Tri County all-star Kevin Yost, when they represented the South in the 26th annual Shrine game of 1984. Alas, the South fell once again, losing 14 to 0.Throughout the sixties, six-man football declined as it was replaced by eight-man. However, the seventies saw a reversal for the eight-man gridders. While Nebraska was host to many small, rural schools, the natural setting for eight-man football, changes were happening to the landscape. Some schools grew. Some schools closed. As with the decline of the six-man game, consolidation of schools proved to be a major contributing factor.Something else was happening, something only visible to one looking at the state as a whole, not visible to those on the ground who saw only their own region. In the eighties, eight-man football became a comparative rarity in the eastern part of the state. Meanwhile, eight-man school teams actually increased in central Nebraska. It was a domino effect. When one school made a change, neighboring schools often followed suite for scheduling reasons.Eight-man gridders did not always get the respect they deserved. Television commentator Bill Walsh said in 1991 that one of the problem’s with Nebraska was that it had, “too many eight-man football players.”Miami had just defeated the Cornhuskers in the Orange Bowl, 22 to 0. It was the first shutout of Nebraska in 220 games. Needless to say, Walsh’s comments were roundly disputed by some Nebraska players.“I don't know where he would have arrived at that answer,” said, Nebraska junior offensive tackle Lance Lundberg. “It doesn't matter where you're from or what kind of high school football you play. Talent doesn't come from a region of the country.”In spite of the naysayers, eight-man football has been instrumental in keeping the game alive in small-town Nebraska and small-town America.And not just there.Ken Cook, football coach for Adams for 17 year, got a telephone call he wasn’t expecting. “I got a call from a guy who said he was in Singapore. You know, in Asia. He asked me for some information about eight-man football, some plays, maybe some game films and some strategies about the game.”This was in 1985. Cook said, “We talked for about half an hour and I sent him the material – collect.”Cook later admitted, “In the meantime, I waited for someone to call up and start laughing because I fell for the whole thing. It sounded legitimate. But Singapore? I wasn't even sure where it is.”The package was received and cook got another call from the Singapore man, thanking him and asking more questions. “Now I knew it was for real,” Cook said. “He had called Dave Scribner of Trumbull and me and was getting ready for their football season. They switched to eight-man football this year and wanted to know as much about the game as we could tell them.”“I hope it works for them. I even offered to come over and teach a clinic.”It did work out for them. According to Jim Matisin, head coach for the Singapore Vikings, “We’re 2-0 and both the team we beat are bigger, stronger and faster. But the information we had on how to play eight-man ball from Ken Cook and Dave Scribner was the key.The Singapore-based “World League” high school and junior high school football league switched to eight-man for the same reasons as those schools in Nebraska did it. “We're running a little low on numbers because the economy is down,” said coach Matisin. Other countries also indulge in the eight-man competition. Ireland currently has an eight man-league, called DV8. In Israel, an eight-man league was formed in 2005, with team names like the Haifa Underdogs, Tel Aviv Pioneers, Jerusalem Lions and Tel Aviv Sabres. First published January 14, 2019.

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