What's new in Arkansas high school football this season?
Well, there's plenty: n. New players, new coaches and, in some cases, new stadiums like the ones at Bentonville West, Elkins and Berryville. But the biggest difference is something that hasn't been seen on the Arkansas landscape since the mid-1960s.
Eight-man football has returned.
"Eight-man football is fun," said Doyle Baker, who coached the first eight-man football team at West Fork. "I came into the gym one day, and there was all of this football equipment lying around. The superintendent said we were starting a football program, and I asked who was going to coach it. He said 'you are.' We won two games our first year and thought we had really accomplished something. I'm glad it's back."
Many rural schools in Arkansas played eight-man football until 1965. But with enrollment declining at a number of small schools throughout the state, Decatur led the charge to allow the formation of eight-man football again. The Arkansas Activities Association agreed and five schools -- Decatur, Augusta, Little Rock Episcopal, Hermitage, Woodlawn -- will play home and away games in eight-man football as a club sport for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. As more teams adopt eight-man football, it will regain its status as a sanctioned sport.
Decatur will play a nine-game schedule, beginning with Hermitage on Aug. 31. Arkansas Christian Academy and Arkansas School for the Deaf will play a limited amount of games this season.
"We are very excited about the opportunity for eight-man football," said Toby Conrad, the athletic director and high school and middle school principal at Decatur. "This will save football for several schools that cannot field an 11-man squad each year, and it will bring football back to some schools that have lost it in recent years. This year, there are six teams statewide playing it, and about 14 others teams that will probably play it next year or the year after for sure when the two-year cycle for football divisions start over. At that point, the AAA has said it should be a sanctioned sport in Arkansas."
Games in eight-man football are often high-scoring, but fans should not mistake eight-man football for being less legitimate than 11-man football. If anything, the fundamentals of blocking and tacking are even more important in eight-man football.
"We placed a lot of emphasis on form tackling," said Wayne Carnahan, who played quarterback and linebacker on eight-man teams at Prairie Grove. "If the ball carrier got outside and turned the corner, then it was a footrace down the field. You can't arm tackle. You've got to bring him down before he gets loose."
The landscape has changed since Prairie Grove was a member of the last full-fledged eight-man league, which also included Gravette, Decatur, Pea Ridge, Greenland, West Fork, Mountainburg and Lincoln. Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove and Gravette are Class 4A schools with increasing enrollments. But that growth spurt hasn't reached Decatur, which has forfeited games and often scrambles for players just to begin the season.
That shouldn't be a problem this year for the Bulldogs, who have about 20 players ready to play football.
"It was also a safety issue for our students having to play much bigger schools with 30-40 kids on their roster when we were having 13-15," Conrad said. "Now, because we can and will be more competitive with similar size schools, we have more students looking forward to playing football again."
Sports on 08/23/2018