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Eight-man football needs regulation

One of the more controversial sports situations in the state of Michigan today centers around eight-man football.

The sport made its debut a few years ago, and the initial results were more or less satisfying.

After all, the eught-man game was allowing small schools, without the proper numbers for the 11-man game, to compete.

And who could argue that giving youngsters a chance to play a sport wasn’t a good idea.

Coming from a high school without enough numbers for football, I can relate to that concept.

We likely had enough size and talent in the school to compete in eight-man football, had it been around in those long-ago days. The same could have been said in Chassell, Dollar Bay, Ewen, Trout Creek, etc.

When I had the opportunity to play football a few years later while serving in the Army, I jumped at the chance. And while it wasn’t always completely satisfying, I enjoyed the game.

The problem nowadays is that some schools are taking advantage of the rules, bending them to fit their own particular situation.

Stephenson, right here in the Upper Peninsula, could be an example.

The Eagles – a long time Class C school – won the West-Pac football title not that many years ago. They had a solid program and even sent a few players to the next level.

But their move to eight-man a couple of years ago raised more than a few eyebrows. When they moved down, they had approximately 40 players on the roster.

North Central and Forest Park are two other cases that have football observers scratching their heads.

The Jets moved down a few years ago and are the defending state champions. NC is in the midst of having a terrific group of athletes.

Their two straight Class D state basketball championships and 55 straight wins are good evidence of how good that talent is.

Forest Park has cited low numbers in the lower grades and that was their reasoning to move to eight-man this fall. That argument has merit.

But the fact is that last year’s Trojans, who advanced to the state semifinals, appeared to have enough talent, including all-U.P. tailback Daniel Nocerini, coming back to stay in 11-man this season. They have 23 players on this year’s roster.

That’s more than powerhouse Lake Linden-Hubbell teams had in their banner years.

In their first game last week versus Rapid River, CFFP rolled to a lopsided 64-22 win behind seven touchdowns and more than 400 yards rushing by Nocerini.

The 8-man game should be played by schools like Ontonagon, Ewen-Trout Creek, Baraga, etc. All of them were honestly forced to drop down in class because the numbers just weren’t there.

In the meantime, keep an eye on this weekend’s Forest Park-N. Central matchup. The scoreboard may short out trying to keep up with these very talented teams.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association has to set a roster limit, say 18, and stick to it if they want to even the playing field.

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