EDITORIAL: Keeping 8-man football

Published 2:30 pm Wednesday, January 5, 2022

On Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021, one of the more exciting high school football games in many years played out on the grass at Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium in Baker City.

But if the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) makes a change that its football committee has proposed, that thrilling game between Powder Valley and Adrian — Adrian rallied to win 46-38 — might be the last of its kind.

On Dec. 20 the OSAA committee proposed to eliminate the 8-man football format that many Class 1A schools, including Powder Valley, have played in for decades.

The 8-man category would be replaced by divisions of 9-man and 6-man leagues. Larger schools, including Class 4A Baker, would continue to play standard 11-man football.

The committee’s proposal would move Powder Valley, along with Wallowa and Joseph, into a 6-man league.

Josh Cobb, the Badgers’ head coach, doesn’t think much of that plan.

“Eight-man just feels right,” he said recently. “I see 6-man as a good thing for schools that truly don’t have the student body.”

That includes Pine Eagle, Huntington and Burnt River high schools in Baker County, which already play 6-man football. That’s reasonable based on their enrollments — Huntington (24), Pine Eagle (53) and Burnt River (20).

But Powder Valley, with an enrollment of 71, and Adrian (79), can comfortably field 8-man squads.

“I don’t want to play 6-man,” Cobb said. “We have 30 kids on the team.”

Although OSAA would allow Powder Valley and other schools slotted into a 6-man league to request a move to a 9-man league, the current 8-man format is working well.

And it’s by far the favored format among the schools involved.

Brad Dunten, Powder Valley’s athletic director, recently surveyed Class 1A schools in an effort to gather data to be presented at the OSAA committee’s meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 5 in Wilsonville.

Of the 95 schools he surveyed, athletic directors or other administrators from 75 responded to a question about whether they preferred an 8-man or 9-man format. Of those, 71 chose 8-man (94.7%).

To the question of whether they would like to continue the current formats, with 6-man, 8-man and 11-man leagues, 85.5% of the administrators said yes. The same percentage of respondents are opposed to the committee’s plan for 6-man, 9-man and 11-man leagues.

Dunten’s survey also asked school officials to list their reasons for preferring one model over another. Responses from those who want to retain the 8-man format included (Dunten’s report didn’t include the name of the school or administrator):

• “8-man is established, available in surrounding states for scheduling.”

• “8-man has a long tradition in Oregon with neighboring states that use the same format. Going away from tradition and what our neighbors use seems unnecessary.”

• “8-man has served large 1A schools well competitively, however it would not enhance or provide any opportunities to change course for a 9-man model.”

In a Jan. 3 email that includes results of the survey, Dunten wrote: “It seems 8-man football is alive and doing well in the State of Oregon.”

Credit to OSAA for trying to make sure that all schools, regardless of enrollment, can field football teams. But the current system, with 6-man, 8-man and 11-man leagues, is meeting the needs of the smaller schools, making possible classic games such as the Powder Valley-Adrian state title contest.

— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor