The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Dec. 26, 2012

Just when you thought the “track meet with huddle” style of 8-man football was too quick, things could get a lot more crazy next fall.

The Idaho High School Activities Association will support a pilot 6-man program in class 1A, but will not sanction a postseason playoff.

MULLAN HIGH has had 10 players on its roster the last two years. Should the Tigers opt to move to 6-man football, they’d be looking at traveling to southern Idaho, where the most interested teams are located, every other weekend to play teams of the same size.

“The way numbers go up and down, it makes sense,” Mullan football coach and athletic director Stetson Spooner said. “I’m new to the area, but usually in these parts, it’s been up or down depending on the boom of mining.”

Mullan won back-to-back state A-4 football titles in 1983 and ’84 under legendary coach John Drager, when the classification was 11-man.

“With our turnout ranging between 8 and 13 players the last few years, and the fact that two years ago, there were a couple of games we only had 8 players and several that we had 10 or less, it would appear 6-man football would be a good fit for us,” Mullan Superintendent of Schools Robin Stanley said. “But, we would need teams to play and unfortunately, there are no teams close that play 6-man football and consequently, the travel would become a serious problem.”

“If Mullan and Clark Fork were to go 6-man and Kootenai were to stay 8-man, in my opinion the league would be just about over for football,” Kootenai football coach and athletic director Doug Napierala said. “Kootenai would still be in Division II and Lakeside and Wallace in Division I. Unless something like Division II would be 6-man and all 8-man would be Division I, we would have to play up a division to stay in 8-man. If the two divisions remain, we would not have to compete with either of them for a state playoff berth.”

SHOULD THINGS remain the way they are, Napierala believes that Kootenai will have to play its way into the state playoffs.

“I imagine we would not get a full bid,” Napierala said. “We would have to have a play-in game against another district to assure ourselves a place in the playoffs.”

Two years ago, Clark Fork had 11 players out for football, but grew to 18 this fall.

“A couple of years ago, it would have definitely been something I would have looked at,” Clark Fork coach Brian Arthun said. “We started with 11 players, but between injuries and players ineligible we finished with seven and with that many, we had to forfeit games and would be finishing games with seven.”

Clark Fork finished this season with a 5-4 record.

Wyoming and New Mexico adopted 6-man football in 2009 and 2008, respectively, with both having 10 schools participating. Colorado has 24 teams and Montana 34 that play 6-man.

“When schools get smaller, those smaller schools cannot compete with the larger schools,” Stanley said. “When you only have 10-12 players out in 8-man football, freshmen and smaller, inexperienced players are being asked to go up against the larger, more experienced upperclassmen. That puts the smaller, inexperienced athletes at risk. Further complicating the issue is the lack of substitutes to allow for a break. Consequently, the smaller schools are forced to either play with smaller, inexperienced athletes, or cancel games.”

Mullan is 45 miles from St. Regis (Mont.), which plays 6-man football.

“They’ve got to travel to the other side of Glacier National Park in the Choteau area,” Spooner said. “The issue with us would be funding and if we could travel that far. But in all reality, if we did it, we’d need another team or two in the direct area that would do it also.”

In 6-man football, teams must gain 15 yards for a first down, instead of the usual 10. Also, any of the six players are eligible receivers, but the player that receives the snap cannot run past the line of scrimmage. Touchdowns are still 6 points. But on scoring conversions, any run or pass for a score is 1 point, with a kick being 2 points. Field goals are 4 points. Games are also played on a shorter, 40x80-yard field.

Timberline High of Weippe, which had 15 players this season, is also rumored to be interested in 6-man.

“With (1A) football, every year is different,” said Arthun, who previously coached at Mullan. “We’ve got some classes with more boys than girls and others that are vice versa. But it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out.”

While there’s an interest, Arthun doesn’t expect to see Clark Fork make any moves right away.

“We don’t plan on doing anything in the next couple of years,” Arthun said. “If it was the case where we might have to move up (to Division I), we may be looking at doing something in the next couple of years.”

Stanley has been a board member for the IHSAA for nine years.

“There has always been a huge concern about expanding the number of classifications in the various sports,” Stanley said. “We currently have 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, 1A Division I and 1A Division II. We had a very difficult time convincing the board to allow us to divide the 1As into two divisions. I know it was a difficult decision allowing for another classification — but it is the right thing to do.”

Napierala added that should teams leave, scheduling regular season games could be an issue.

“I really don’t know what kind of schedule anyone would be able to get,” Napierala said. “Where this is generating from, I believe they (Mullan and Clark Fork) would be able to get a schedule — we certainly would not.”

THERE WILL be no postseason playoff created by the IHSAA, but if participating schools opt to, they may do so on their own.

“If there’s no chance at a postseason, most kids will want to just stay 8-man and take their chances,” Spooner said. “Especially in this league. All we need to do is steal one from Kootenai and steal one or two from Clark Fork and hope it goes to a tiebreaker or a coin flip.”

After 2013, the state will review the progress of the program.

“Kootenai, for a 6-man team would be dressing into the 20s for games,” Spooner said. “If any team in the league was competing in Wallace this year, even above Lakeside, it was Kootenai. Kootenai was a great team this year. Don’t get me wrong, with low numbers, I’d feel more comfortable at taking my best six against anyone else’s best six, instead of my best eight against theirs. Sometimes mixed in with that eight are some freshmen that aren’t ready to play yet, but are forced to. On the flip side, you can’t coach experience and sometimes it’s a good thing, but for some kids, it can break them.”

“Personally, I don’t want to play 6-man,” Napierala said. “I really enjoy the 8-man game. I do understand the low numbers and our small schools are getting smaller. I have seen it happening in Mullan the past three or four years.”

DUE TO to low numbers, Mullan hasn’t fielded a junior high football team the last two years.

“Kootenai doesn’t have to worry about it, but we don’t have that luxury,” Spooner said. “With 6-man, that almost allows a freshman to get in on special teams instead of if a player got hurt going in somewhere they haven’t played.”

“For some, the game of 6-man is better than no football,” Napierala said. “Our numbers at Kootenai are declining, but I don’t foresee us dropping off that great for a while.”

“I commend the Board of Directors of the Idaho High School Activities Association for taking the position to allow the 6-man football pilot,” Stanley said. “It gives the small rural school athletes another opportunity to compete against schools closer to their own size. Yes, it does make for another classification. But the alternative would be to deny those athletes from the small, rural schools the opportunity to enjoy the experience of high school football.”

The program will be discussed again at the next IHSAA meeting in January.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].